


Tony Stark's Tower of Terror

by Chelamine



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen, Ghosts, Halloween, Haunted Asylum, Haunted Houses, Spirits
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-07
Updated: 2014-10-31
Packaged: 2018-01-11 13:02:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 32,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1173383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chelamine/pseuds/Chelamine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Halloween is one of the best times of the year to get mixed up in something supernatural... or do something that'll scare the crap out of all you'r friends and piss Fury the hell off... Either way, BEST HOLIDAY EVAH!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Haunted House (fun)

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome one and all! This is a annual fic! Meaning I will update ONCE A YEAR! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Personally, Tony couldn't see anything wrong with this.  
Really, he couldn't.  
He was currently standing infront of a Haunted House, Loki to one side of him, Banner on the other. Steve was behind him, running to catch up and shouting things Tony chose to ignore.  
"Loki's gonna think it's real and Banner's gonna Hulk out!"  
"What was that?" Tony called back, pushing the two other men closer to the attraction as fast as he could.  
"Loki will turn someone into a goat!"  
"Steve! I can't hear you!"  
Currently, it was October 29th, Thor was off doing... something, Hawkeye and Widow were off doing... something, and since Pepper was on a buisness trip Tony couldn't do... something. This left only one option to the rich man-child: Explicity ignore any and all warnings and do whatever the hell he wanted. And since Halloween was in two days, he figured Loki and Banner in a haunted house was the perfect request for attention.  
Only he hadn't counted on only attaining Steve's attention, and that was just plain no fun.  
"Tony!" Steve yelled as the three got in the line. Steve shoved his way through the line to catch up with them and people closed in behind him. Blocking his escape.  
"Oh look, you're in line too." Tony said with an air of calm while the corners of his mouth twitched, "That means you're my accomplice."  
"No it doesn't." Steve growled.  
"Yes it does. You and me are partners in a glorious and life changing adventure that will test our wills and our emotions."  
Steve was silent, "You're making it sound like we're married."  
"You said it not me." Tony said turning back around.  
"Tony, do you realise how dangerous, not to mention bone-head stupid, this is?" Steve asked, "You've brought two of the last people who should ever be in a Haunted House to a Haunted House."  
"Oh you know, they're good for character and... stuff." Tony shrugged casually. Bruce rolled his eyes and slipped white ear buds into his ears, deciding to return to the idiot-fest when Steve threw the first punch.  
"Tony! I'm serious, get them-"  
"Honestly Captain, I think I can handle a kiddie house of horrors. I've seen and done much worse in my lifetime than anything you'r silly Midgard movies depict." Loki said haughtily , turning to glare at Steve. It was true, despite forgetting to turn the tap off in the bathroom and kitchen and the rule of no transfigurations in the kitchen or living room, Loki was much more adept at handling Midgard customs than his brother.  
"It's better not to risk it Loki!" Steve cried in frustration. Loki rolled his eyes and whipped his scarf off his neck as Steve continued to rant. Seeing the look in the trickster's eye Bruce removed the earbuds and paused his music.  
"The repurcussions of one of you guys freaking out and doing something on pure instinct are far worse than if we just- Loki what are you doing?" Loki had calmly thrown his scarf over Steve's head as he was shouting and pulled the soldier in close, so close Steve could see little more than Loki's dazzling green eyes. He wore a steamy-eyed expression, a sexy smile played at the corner of his lips.  
"I'll be allright Steve." Loki whispered, the smile turning to a heart-wrenching pleading expression, "You shouldn't worry about me so much. It could lead to... assumptions."  
"W-what?!" Steve looked horrified.  
"It's okay Steve, I understand. And I'll be okay." Loki continued to whisper, pulling Steve's head closer and closer.  
"S-stop it!" Steve cried.  
"The heart wants what the heart wants. And sources say your heart wants this." Loki said, eyes sparkling, "Who can deny their inner most feelings Steve? It really isn't healthy." Steve swallowed nervously.  
Behind them Banner and Stark tried their best not to laugh.  
"No. I. Don't." Steve said evenly, trying not to rip the scarf off his neck and push the god away.  
Loki stepped back, looking confused.  
"Really? But Tony said that your needs stem from your natural desire for attention and how you were deprived of it for seventy years in the ice." The whole sentence was said so innocently Steve had to resist ruffling Loki's head like he was a small child.  
Instead he stared at Tony, murder written in his twitching eyes.  
"I. Will. Kill you Stark." Steve said through gritted teeth.  
"Loki! Sic him!" Tony commanded.  
Loki instead pimp-slapped Tony and whipped his scarf off Steve's neck. He strode up next to Bruce and only turned back after a moment to snap, "I still want my fifty dollars."  
Tony rubbed his jaw tenderly, "I'm shaving off ten for damages." Loki raised his hand again and tony backed up, hands held up defensively.  
"Besides, there was no kiss!"  
Both Steve and Loki slapped him for that.  
"You might want to quit while you're ahead." Banner advised. Tony only rubbed both sides of his jaw and grumbled something unintelligible.  
They were silent the rest of the wait until they reached the ticket seller. An older, pinched-face woman dressed as a dead gypsy, the tickets floating around in her "crystal ball".  
"How many?" She asked, regarding them with dull eyes.  
Tony snaked his arms around Loki and Banner's necks and hugged them close, "Us three." He sounded rather hurried.  
"He means four ma'am." Steve called from behind Tony.  
"Nope! No I don't. I mean three as in we three standing before you at this moment." Tony hugged Banner and Loki a little closer. Loki adjusted his head, Tony's scruff scratching his skin.  
"It's four!" Steve declared again.  
"Madam, please don't let the man behind us in. He's been following us for the last while and plans to do unspeakable horrors to our persons once we are inside." Tony said nicely. Loki growled as Tony's goatee scratched his cheek again.  
"Ma'am, I am this man's court ordered chaperone as he has proven he doesn't have the tools to operate in a society as advanced as the current one we stand in today." Tony flushed red at the word "Chaperone" and Loki sniggered. It was all the proof the woman needed to hand Loki the four tickets, who then passed them to Steve with difficulty as Tony was cutting off his air ways. As they departed the woman gave them all a withering look.  
"The eager yound minds of tommorow? Ha!" She grumbled.  
As they continued through the line, Loki eventually bit into Tony's arm so he'd let go. Banner tried his hardest to hide his smile as Tony rubbed his arm and muttered facts about rabies.  
"Okay Chaperone, are you ready?" Tony asked condescendingly when they neared the ticket taker. Steve took one look at him and slapped him across the face again.  
"Oww!"  
"Baby." Loki sniggered, sliding past the whimpering Tony.  
The four approached the ticket taker, a woman dressed as a dead flapper with her throat slashed. She took their tickets, ripped the stubs off and threw the tickets in a small bucket near the feet of the stool she sat on. She handed the ripped tickets back to Loki, and her fingers lingered a little longer than necassary over his.  
Loki blushed a furious scarlet as she winked at him.  
"Awkward!" Tony shouted before pushing Loki as hard as he could through the door. The other two followed, Steve muttering under his breath. The entrance wasn't too bad, nothing jumped at them or squealed. But Loki noticed how Tony had a tight grip on his shoulders all the same. It didn't change when they finally entered the establishment.  
They passed through a dark door and Tony felt Loki's shoulders tense as something snapped in the dark distance.  
"It's not real." Tony whispered softly.  
"I know that!" Loki said tensly, but there was something much more vulnerable beneath the bravely beligerent tone.  
A large man, chunks of brain hanging from above his ear and walking with a limp, appeared near the only light source in the room: a strobe light next to the door.  
"Brains!" the Zombie cried. Tony plowed his shield-Loki-through it and the group went on. Steve saying hi to the startled zombie as he passed.  
The next room had been transformed into a foggy graveyard, lights in the corners serving as the only illumination.  
Not understanding the arts of set design, Loki looked around curiously, "How did we get outside?"  
"Hushie!" Tony said, pushing Loki in to the room.  
"And why am I at the front of the-AAHH!" A woman in a dirty wedding dress holding a butcher knige had run at Loki from behind a headstone, making the Asgardian tear ahead.  
"NOT AGAIN!" He screamed from up ahead over and over.  
"Tony!" Steve cried angrily.  
"Lalala! Can't hear you!"  
The rest of the group hurried to catch up, hearing terrified shrieks every now and again while more monsters popped out at them. Steve found himself trying not to tread on anything on the ground, real or not.  
They found Loki moments later, hiding by the door to the next room behind a head stone.  
"Kiddie house of horrors huh?" Tony teased, clapping Loki on the back from behind. Loki shrieked and fell back on the ground.  
Banner was laughing very hard, "Aww man, I think this is the best idea you ever had!" Steve rolled his eyes and helped Loki to his feet.  
"Can you make it the rest of the way?" He asked seriously.  
"O-of course!" Loki cried indignantly, looking insulted, "I-I've handled worse."  
The next few rooms contained different "horrors". Mummies, Vampires, and Hack-Saw murders inhabiting quite a few of them. When they entered the torture chambers Steve turned a little green. He turned to see Banner absorbed by the fake trappings. Steve actually had to pull the poor guy away from a rack of strange looking beakers.  
"Those were so cool." Banner breathed as he rejoined them.  
"Yo! Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hide, Miss America, let's go!" Tony demanded as he and Loki began to get ahead again. He now had one arm wrapped around Loki's, dragging him along. Loki didn't seem to notice however, instead he was absorbed by the torture chamber and it's machines, completely at ease around them... troubling...  
"How long have we been in here?" Steve asked as they came to the mouth of a dark hallway.  
Tony leaned against the doorframe, "I dunno but I feel I've grown closer to you all."  
"I can't tell if that's sexual innuendo for something or if he's just being condescending." Loki said, pulling his arm from Tony's and pushing him through the door into the dark hall.  
"Chaperone!" Tony whined, "Loki pushed me!"  
"Quiet Optimus Prime!" Bruce said when Steve couldn't think of anything clever to respond with.  
"Whatever Green Bean." Tony grumbled.  
"I swear, one more nickname and I turn you all into goats!" Loki shouted.  
A door opened behind them and the vampire that was supposed to pop out was giving them an odd look.  
Loki blushed and turned to go, coming face to face with a full-sized zombie.  
"Goats?" he asked stupidly.  
"BEGONE FOUL DEMON!" Loki screamed, blasting the zombie backwards.  
"Loki!" Bruce cried and Steve grabbed him by the shoulders. The Zombie was still out, but he groaned and after a minute he began trying to get up.  
"Go. Gogogogogogo!" Steve panicked, pushing the group through the hall.  
Loki looked at the new room, confused. The room was punctured by tons of holes in the walls and what was left of those walls were covered in broken mirrors and splattered blood.  
"So mortals are afraid of... holes?" Tony sniggered behind the god and was thrown a poisonous look.  
As they walked through the room nothing happened, and just as Loki was preparing to scream a new term he'd learned ("Ripoff!") A mirror behind him slid open and a gray hand reached out and snatched Tony.  
"Woah!"  
"Tony!"  
The mirror slid back into place and was swiftly attacked brutally by Loki and Steve. Banner wanted to help, but was afraid his "help" wouldn't stop smashing afterwards.  
"This mirror is... magic resistant?" Loki said, confused.  
Suddenelly, the doorway they'd entered to get to this strange room was filled by a man covered in blood spattered dark clothing and letting loose the awesome power of his chain saw.  
"Bruce!" Steve freaked, "Loki! Run!"  
"What else would I be doing?" Loki screamed nastily.  
"Do you want me to trip you? Do you seriously want me to trip you?!" Steve screamed at him.  
"I'm about to trip both of you!" Bruce screamed and behind them the pursuing chainsaw begged Bruce to as the teeth ran a mile a minute.  
It chased them through the next few rooms before they got tired and ducked behind a dead end corner to hide.  
"How long is this thing?" Loki panted.  
"We have got to be near the end." Steve said, not having even broken a sweat.  
"Then we run like hell till we get out and then we come back with Barton and Natasha and find a way to save Tony." Bruce panted.  
"Good plan Green Jeans, anything to add Ram Horns?"  
"Expect to be a goat by tommorow morning.."  
"Helpfull." Steve said sarcastically before rising.  
The chainsaw sound rounded a nearby corner and all three were gone. They tore down rooms and hallways, twisted, curving corners and broke necks at hairpin speeds.  
"Where's the end?! WHERE'S THE ODIN'S TROUSERS END?!" Loki screamed.  
They tumbled out of the exit door, landing on top of one another.  
"There it is!" Bruce smiled, pointing at the exit door from his place ontop of the body pile.  
The door burst open again and Chainsaw Man waved the weapon on their faces ina happy dancing manor.  
"This... is so weird." Steve muttered.  
"I definently didn't want to die with this strange man waving a chainsaw and his covered abs in front of me." Bruce said.  
"Yeah we know what you wanted waving in you." Loki giggled, and then cried out in pain as Steve and Bruce slapped him in the back of the head.  
"Great I get to die listening to the God of Mischief and Lies making erotic jokes." Steve mumbled.  
"Not a bad way to go!" The Chainsaw Man said, having finished dancing, then coughed and his voice instantly lowered to a terrifying bass, "And now freeloaders, prepare to meet your punishment of hogging the food, phone, internet, and TV!"  
"Wait... what?" Bruce had the sense to ask.  
Loki decided now was the time to coin another phrase he'd recently learned on Midgard: "Mind Rape!"  
Chainsaw Guy brought the screaming machine of death closer and closer to their sweating faces.  
"Guys, since I don't think we'll make it past the next twelve seconds, I just wanted you two to know that you're awesome in you'r own quirky and seriously damaged ways."  
"Steve I broke you'r I-pod." Bruce admitted.  
"Bruce, you just forget everything I just said." Steve sighed as the chainsaw neared his face.  
Suddenelly there was laughing...  
... Coming from Chainsaw Man.  
"That was priceless!" The strange man laughed, lowering the chainsaw and turning it off.  
The other three stared in shock, and then anger, as Tony removed his mask and shutt off the chainsaw.  
"TONY!"  
"Aww Steve look, you're blushing!"  
Steve grabbed Tony ruffly by the shoulder and pushed him against the wall.  
"I'm red in the face with anger!" Steve hissed, "We thought you were really in trouble when you got pulled through that mirror and we couldn't get through!"  
"I paid some guys to help me mess with you guys, and I couldn't let you go destroying the place could I?" Tony grinned.  
"I. Will. Kill. You. STARK!" Steve raged before Loki clamped a hand on his shoulder and gently pushed him away from the billionaire playboy.  
"I know the perfect way to exact our justly deserved revenge."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Steve placed his fingers on the Avengers Tower lock on the elevator, which turned green and started speeding the elelvator towards the penthouse at the top of the tower. The elevator dinged and the door opened with a whoosh! Stark Tower was dark, except for the top five or so floors which mdae up the Avengers headquarters. Presently, there was alot of commotion coming from the communal kitchen.  
"So Loki," Steve whispered as they entered the living room, "What's this revenge plan you spoke of?" Currently, Tony traveled behind them, unscathed and a little worried.  
"Simple," Loki smiled wickedly at Tony. Quickly he pinched his cheeks until they turned from snow pale to bright red and then conjured a small bottle of eye drops. He dripped a few into his eyes and then on his face. The whole effect made him look like he'd been bawling his eyes out.  
"Thor!" Loki wailed, running to the kitchen.  
"Really?" Tony sighed.  
"Thor!" Loki cried again, entering the kitchen. Thor turned to reveal he was carrying a massive load of boxes of poptarts in his arms and only wearing boxers and socks. When he saw his baby brother sorrowful, he dropped the poptarts and ran to him.  
"What is it brother?" He asked, grasping the man by the shoulders. Loki sniffled and struggled for breath.  
"I-It was horrible." Loki cried, "T-Tony. He... he surprised Banner and I. He... whispered instuctions to me to do stuff... and he... he... he wouldn't let go! And then he took us to a place of horrors and forced us to participate. Steve tried to stop him but... oh Brother it was horrible!"  
Thor, having just gotten back from doing... something, with Jane, let his mind wander to the Land of Wrong. So it's rather understandable when the God of Thunder flew into a rage and summoned his hammer.  
"STARK!" He screamed, flying past his brother towards the playboy philanthropist, slamming the hammer into Tony and proceeding to pummel him mercilessly.  
"How... Dare... You... Defile... My... Brother! You disgusting... hairy... snake... with a torch in... it's chest!" Thor cried. Behind him, the other three gathered behind them to watch.  
Loki rubbed the last of his "tears" away and breathed in and out until normal color returned to his cheeks.  
"Is he... actually trying to kill him?" Steve asked.  
"Shhh." Loki hushed, conjuring a box of popcorn to eat. Banner grabbed a handul and shoved it into his mouth.  
"But... but he'll kill him." Steve said.  
"Give him a few moments." Loki said, busy watching the show.  
"No! Thor! Don't! Don't! Didn't... rape... ow!... Loki!" Tony cried between blows from Thor's hammer.  
"Monster!" Thor cried.  
"Took... them... to... Haun-ow!"  
"You raped my brother at a hothel?!"  
"No! Haunted. House!"  
"YOU RAPED MY BROTHER AT A HAUNTED HOUSE?!" Thor began to hit the playboy harder.  
"No! I didn't rape him!" Tony cried, "Steve! Help me!"  
"Oh but Tony, you were so evil." Steve sneered. Loki offered him the box of popcorn.  
"STEVE!"  
"Okay fine. Thor! He didn't rape Loki. Just scared him out of his mind."  
"Fun sucker." Loki whispered disgruntled.  
"How?" Thor asked, finally letting up on Tony.  
"He took him... to a Haunted House." Steve said.  
"Haunted House? I believe Jane took me to one of those once. Brother," Thor placed a hand on Loki's shoulder, "WE MUST GO!"  
"Well that backfired." Banner commented as Loki was dragged out the door.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The ticket seller was a little surprised to see them but the ticket taker was overjoyed to see Loki again. Although the meeting was more awkward due to Thor being there.  
"If you get to scared," She whispred sexily, "You can always come sit with me."  
"Umm sure thing?" Loki blushed, hurrying to get away before Thor caught on to the advances the woman was makin towards Loki.  
"Aww little brother, you made a friend."  
"No I didn't Thor, get walking." Loki hissed as they entered.  
The House was less scart for the group, considering four of them had already passed through and Thor was... Thor.  
"Brother, do you remember when we were small and braved the Haunted Caves?"  
"Uhh... No?"  
"Oh that's right, you were so traumatized you blocked it from you'r memories."  
"It was that scary?" Steve asked.  
"Well, for a four year old I guess." Thor shrugged.  
"He was four?!" Tony exclaimed.  
"No, I was four, he was three."  
The others, even Loki, stared in disbelief at the thunderer.  
"Is there no limit to you'r stupidity?" Loki asked.  
"There's a limit?" Thor sounded so genuinly surprised, Loki couldn't help but slap him on the back of the head.  
By now the group had entered the graveyard, the Zombie Bride jumping out at them with her knife.  
"Oh look Brother! Doesn't that remind you of-"  
"Ow!" Loki had attempted to elbow Thor in the abs... It was obvious why there needs to be no explanation here so the author will move the story along.  
"Where's that Banshee from earlier?" Bruce asked.  
Loki, blushing, said, "That... wasn't... a Banshee." The others silently stared at the blushing god.  
"I thought confiscating you'r bear would make you manlier." Thor noted, "Maybe I have failed."  
"Shutup Thor!"  
"Hey look! That one looks like a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent!" Tony said, pointing at a Haunted House employee dressed in a black jumpsuit carrying a large gun.  
"Tony, I think that is a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent!" Steve cried.  
"Run!" Banner screamed and everyone proceeded to do just that.  
"Come back here!" The agent cried, firing a couple shots.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"What in the Holly Hell were you idjits thinking?" Fury raged, making them stand in a line at attention... or sort of attention. Only Steve bothered. The rest just stood there, nursing their laser blast wounds.  
"Did you have to use the stun setting?" Tony whined.  
"When you run away yes."  
"What if we were running merely towards you." Tiny asked innocently.  
"Tony, you were running away from the agent."  
"But towards the doors you dragged us out of."  
"Tony." Fury groaned. Tony looked proud at causing the S.H.E.I.L.D. director grief.  
"So, technically, you are in the wrong." Tony continued.  
"Tony!" Steve whispered, "Shut up!"  
"Well," Fury continued, "Who's idea was this?"  
"Steve!"  
"Steve!"  
"Chaperone!"  
"Goat!"  
"Ton-wait what?!"  
"Tried to tell you Cap, taking these three is a mistake. I mean, Loki could turn someone into a goat if we're not careful."  
"I. Will. Kill. You. STARK!" Stve threatened as Fury clamped a hand on his shoulder and steered the Captain towards the Hellicarrier.  
"I think you need some more training Captain. Maybe an endurance program? Special setting of course."  
As the Hellicarrier took off, the remianing four looked at eachother, Tony trying hard not to laugh.  
"Okay Stark," Thor grinned, holding out his hand, "Pay."  
Tony patted his pockets, "Crap, left it at the Tower. Ah! I happen to have a hundred and fifty in my pocket. Sorry Loki, I'll pay you later."  
"That's okay Anthony," Loki smiled mischieviously, "I got his wallet." And from behind Loki's back was produced Steve's wallet.  
"Aaah! I knew there was a reason I started liking you!" Tony laughed with Bruce and Thor. Thor clapped a hand on his brother's shoulder and waved a triumphant fist in the air.  
"And what brother," Thor asked as they walked to the car, "Will you do with you'r bounty?"  
Loki thought long and hard about the answer.  
"Scarf shopping."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


	2. The Dark Labyrinth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Halloween is one of the best times of the year to get mixed up in something supernatural... or do something that'll scare the crap out of all you'r friends and piss Fury the hell off... Either way, BEST HOLIDAY EVAH!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Every year I plan to flip flop from scary to fun, so this is the first "scary" one, meaning yes it is meant to scare you. I don't want to hear laughing... unless it's maniacal... or something...

happened so fast... to fast... Tony didn't have a chance as the rubble came crashing down, the floor falling away under him too so that he was descending in a waterfall of rock and concrete and floor tile.  
Something heavy connected with the helmet of his suit, heavy enough to dent the metal and hit Tony in the head.  
At once the world cracked, then darkened. Rubble under and above him, the suit denting and piercing in several places.  
As he faded, all he could think about was the sharp metal cutting into him as the rock crushed his body.  
And hear Steve's screams in his ears...

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Okay, I know what you're thinking: what is a billionaire-playboy-philanthropist in a dinged up metal suit with the body and face of a God doing under a giant mound of rubble?  
To answer simply: I have no clue. Not because I lost my memory but because the last thing I am aware of doing is walking into that crumbly abandoned asylum. Not for fun, mind you, for work.  
Although teasing Lady Liberty about ghosts haunting the old building was pretty fun.  
We were looking for this guy, an escaped murderer with a life sentence. He'd escaped into the nearby mountains and, as a snowstorm blew into town that buried the sherrif's office, the Avengers were called in. Mostly because this guy was no ordinary murderer, he was one of those glorious monsters blessed with some sort of extra ability. What exactly I have no idea, I was late arriving to the debriefing. Totally Peppers fault... totally.  
Anyway, I guess London Bridge fell down and I just woke up under it with the worlds worst headache.  
Looking around, the area's a total mess. Collapsed chunks of concrete and rock everywhere, piling high to the ceiling and I'm afraid to touch it, worried it might topple on top of me again. That would hurt... a lot... and I'm a little tired of pain so if it's all right with everyone I think I'll take a break from it for awhile.  
It's pretty dark, my suit's lights casting an eerie glow and making the shadows twist in weird ways.  
To the one side, I had a giant mountain of rock and rubble, to the other I had a partially destroyed tunnel. As I pulled myself from the wreckage I remembered briefly that the place had a large set of catacombs underneath the entire complex, stretching deep underground into the mountain. This must have been the section directly under the main building which is what we entered first. The asylum seemed like a good place to check out considering the storm above would cause anyone to need shelter. And why slave away, and possibly run out of time, making your own when you can hide away in one that would need a little TLC?  
I cough as some of the dust gets breathed in through the holes in my mask and I try to get the suit's systems to start up. Everything's buzzing and the displays are extremely shaky, but I think there's enough power left to make a quick phone call.  
"Jarvis," My throat sounds like hell, probably all the dust clogging up my lungs as I continue to hack between sentences, "Call Steve."  
The computer doesn't answer but the displays show Steve's picture and confirm that Star Spangled Banner is being called.  
Only for it to go red and say Steve is unavailable... gah!  
"Call... Call Natasha! Call Black Widow." I say, my head increasing in pain and pressure. The whole suit was beginning to feel heavy... I had to get out soon. Before it completely crushed me!  
"Tony?" It's static-polluted, and extremely faint, but Natasha Romanovs voice is music to my ears, "Tony are you allright?"  
"I think so," I say before nearly coughing up a lung, "I don't have much power left but I think I'm allright. What happened?"  
"The whole place shook like there was an earthquake... The floor collapsed under us!"  
"Is everyone allright?" I ask, trying not to picture that in my head.  
"We think so... Thor has a couple cuts and bruises and Clint got away with only a fractured ankle. I think I may have cracked a few ribs though. And Banner Hulked out as we were coming to, he's off in the woods blowing off steam."  
"And Steve?"  
Natasha was quiet, taking a deep breath before saying, "We can't find him Tony."  
"What?" I cry, the force of yelling enough to start up another coughing fit, "What do you... Ack!... Mean?"  
"I mean he isn't up here. No one can find him. He probably fell through with you."  
"Well my suit was protecting me... what was protecting him?" I ask, my knees feeling weak.  
Natasha doesn't say a word and my suit sends up warning signs that I'm about to lose all power.  
"Natasha, I think my suit is about to die... I'll look for a way out of here as quick as possible. You focus on finding Steve and that other guy."  
"Allright but... -ful... don't ... okay?" Natasha said, her voice breaking up by the second.  
"Sure. See ya Nat." I said quickly as the lights in my helmet went dark, the front of the suit opening as it fell back to peel away from my scratched and bruised body. I winced as the suit touched on some tender spots and clattered loudly to the floor. The noise was replaced by a piercing silence, the kind when someone says something devestating and no one knows what to say or do next.  
I couldn't see for crap down here, couldn't see anything useful anyway. All there was around me was rocks and shadows, although it looked like just past the rubble was a hall leading somewhere. Anywhere was better than here and I looked at the rocks blocking my path, trying to think of a way to make them move so I could climb through.  
I pulled uselessly at some, none moving since I was to weak without that stupid armor to be much of a force.  
Groaning in frustration I lean against the rubble and slide down to sit on the dusty ground. I let my arms fall limp as I thought about how long it would take for the others to find me. Maybe forever... being stuck down here in this creepy place... I shuddered at the thought.  
Then I screamed like an effeminate male as my fingers brushed something not made of rock or metal or dirt.  
There was a groan from the darkness and the looser rocks began shifting, cascading down as the groaning continued, the hand I'd touched wiggling in the dust as the body it was attatched to moved under the rubble as they tried to escape. Eventually I had to jump out of the way as rocks came tumbling around me, the newcomer forcing himself to his knees, leaning on the larger rocks for support as he coughed his lungs out.  
"Stars and Stripes?" I coughed, inhaling dust. Steve gave another cough before waving half-heartedly at me and forcing himself to his feet.  
"Where... are we?" He managed as his lungs threatened to travel up his throat.  
"The labrynth under crazy town." I sigh, "You okay?"  
Steve looked himself over, we could see small cuts that were quickly healing as we watched. His skin was covered in dust, giving him a faded gray appearance. It was everywhere, his ripped and bloody suit, his torn up skin, it'd even found a way to cling to his hair, not coming out as he brushed it back. He gave one more cough before stepping around the small area filled with rubble looking for his shield.  
We found it wedged deep beneath rocks leaning dangerously against the walls of the cave, small pebbles and handfuls of dust slipping from it every now and again, warning of it's impending collapse.  
"Just leave it," I said, "We can come back."  
"It's my shield!" Steve weakly argued, I get why he argued I do, it was one of those "connection" things.  
Doesn't mean I let myself care though.  
"And it's our lives at stake if we get it. This whole area's about to collapse! We need to get out now."  
"I can use my shield-"  
"To what? Ward the shadows off? Steve it's just a sheet of metal. We'll come back I promise."  
"I can use it to cut a trail in the wall so we don't get lost stupid. Like you said, this place is a labyrinth." Steve snarled, then he seemed to see me properly as his eyes adjusted to the darkness, "Where's your suit?"  
"Got damaged in the fall." I grumble, the cuts and gashes I received from my creation seeming to smart even more with the admission.  
"Sorry..." Steve sighed, "So if we can't use your suit against the rock I guess we'll just have to get creative."  
"And careful-wait! Steve we're not even gonna attempt this! We gotta get out now. Getting the shield is just a waste of time."  
"I can use it though-" His words were cut off as the rock above us shifted again and a few larger rocks fell to the ground.  
"Forget it." I say and he nods, we both turn to leave just as the rocks begin to collapse around us.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Is there any sign of them?" Thor asks Natasha, face like stone as he refuses to show fear.  
Natasha, her own face a solid mask, shakes her head, "All signs point to Steve falling through with Tony. And any sign of that other nutcase is just the same."  
"So it can be assumed that Mr. Tate died in the fall?" Thor asked, seeking confirmation.  
Natasha shrugged, "Fury said he was good at pulling disappearing acts. He's been through explosions, poisonings, and even a cave-in before. They lost him when he tricked the prison guards into thinking he'd died a few days ago. Then he slit the throats of the guys driving him to the morgue and high-tailed it out here."  
Thor sighed, "Perhaps now is a good time to call my brother?"  
"Why?" Clint snapped from his seat on a pile of rubble, ankle wrapped tightly, "We can handle this without Reindeer Games."  
"Things are looking worse Hawkeye, and Banner has just informed me another storm is moving in. We need shelter and we also need to find our friends and Mr. Tate and we have little time to do either." Thor argued, "Please, we will not inform Fury of how we found them, just that we found them."  
"You wont inform him but we have to Thor." Natasha argued, motioning to Clint and herself.  
Thor grumbled, "Very well then, but with Hawkeye injured and Steve and Tony missing I hope you have a good plan to solving all these problems."  
"I do," Natasha said placidly, "It's called dig."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As we crawl from the rocky mess the lights installed near the top of the wall flicker to life with a dull high-pitched hum, casting unpleasant shadows as our eyes are assaulted by light for the first time in probably awhile.  
Steve and I collapsed against the wall in the actual hallways of the underground part of the asylum, safe from the collapsed rubble around the corner.  
Steve coughed a lot heavier than I did, probably cause he'd inhaled more dirt and dust than I had while under all those rocks.  
As air flows more easily into my lungs I look over at him, seeing he's already climbing to his feet. I sigh and lean against the gray, aging wall and begrudgingly accept Steve's hand as he pulls me to my feet swiftly.  
We look around and pick a random direction, the electric light hiding any trail of natural light, although I doubt we'd find anything like that down here.  
The halls are made only creepier by the yellow light casting and melting shadows as the individual lights meet together, accompanied by the annoying hum that buzzed like hornets in our ears. We only saw cracking plaster and aging wooden doorframes breaking the endless halls. It looked like this was a ward built under the asylum, why though I had to wonder? What was wrong with above where light could be let in? Where fresh air was a window away?  
Curious, I stop and open one of the doors by the corner of another hall, finding it to be an office. I glance at the window on the door and mentally kick myself for not noticing sooner.  
Doctor Facileer  
M.D.  
Head of Psychotics Ward  
"Psychotics ward? That's pretty to the point isn't it?" I ask, looking at a frowning Steve who walks into the office and looks around.  
He flips the light of the lamp on and we're both surprised when the old lamp's bulb glows yellow. It casts light over the awards and photos of a gray haired old man smiling with an assortment of people ranging from young to old to decrepit to looking very rich. Sometimes he's with large groups, also ranging in looks and age, and quite a number consist of this dark skinned old man and a young, pale boy with dark hair and bandages around his arms.  
"So this guy is head of taking care of a bunch of nutcases? Geez all these people look so happy, I wouldn't have thought they'd be crazy." I say, looking from the photos to Steve opening one of the journals from the desk drawer. It was old and brown, I could hear the pages crinkle from across the room as Steve skimmed the pages.  
"It talks about the different patients here, and the methods of treating them..." Steve muttered as he turned a few more pages, eyes widening at one entry in particular.  
"Good Knight..." He whispered, setting the journal down on the dusty desk, he looked at the photos behind me in a way that made me want to look back just to make sure there was nothing changed about the photos. Like demonic faces replacing the smiling ones or skeletons in the place of bodies.  
"What?" I ask after assuring nothing had changed behind me.  
"Can we go?" Steve asked, looking apprehensive but I shook my head, walking over to the desk and plucking the journal from it's place.  
"What was so bad?" I ask, flipping it open.  
"It was disgusting to read... it reminded me of the experiments I found Zola doing." Steve spat, "You know he experimented on my best friend? I found him in Zola's lab strapped down like this guy was describing?"  
I turn down to the open page and squint in the poor light.  
October 5th, 1979  
The shackles nearly broke on Mr. Channing's bed during our sessions today. It turns out all the struggling had become to much for the old buckles and when Mr. Channing began to flail from the electricity today he nearly gained some ground. I was lucky my nurses caught it in time or else I may have been strangled.  
Poor Mr. Channing, I do hope we can untangle that dark web of a mind of his. Perhaps a higher voltage is the key? Or else some other method of treatment. Mrs. Tate and her son seemed to be responding well to the pills I've prescribed some months prior, perhaps Mr. Channing could also benefit?  
I wrinkled my nose at the entry but find anything overly horrifying, so I flipped forward a few more pages and continued reading.  
December 27th, 1979  
Mr. Channing has been lost. I found him in the office convulsing on medications he'd hoarded away for the past week. He smiled as he died, but I was the one feeling smug soon after...  
Well that was creepy...  
I looked up to see Steve, ghostly pale thanks to the dust, looking over the rest of the desk and not finding anything usefull or of interest.  
Then the lights began to flicker.  
"Dammit!" I cried, looking around for a flashlight or something. Steve pulled a candle from one of the desk drawers and I began a mad scramble for matches as the electric lights gave another ominous flicker. There was a small box sitting ontop of another pile of journals in the bottom drawer and I threw them to Steve, who had the match lit as the lights gave up around us.  
"Let's get going," Steve said, and I hastily agreed.  
As we left I swore I heard a door creaking open or closed somewhere far off.  
And for one terrifying minute the creaking hinges sounded like creaking laughter.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thor slammed his hammer into the side of a mound of particularly troublesome rock and they flew like kicked sand. Clint watched with a frustrated yet bored look and ducked a few stray pebbles flying his way. Beside him Banner sat in tattered shreds of his clothes, shivering slightly from the cold air. He wanted to help, he did, but with something as delicate as a cave-in, the Big Guy was the last thing you wanted smashing rock above your head.  
Natasha winced in pain as her ribs rubbed the wrong way in her chest. Clint sent her an apologetic smile before his communicator beeped.  
"Hello?" He answered the call.  
"What happened?" Clint winced as Fury's voice drilled a hole through the awkward silence that had been plaguing them for awhile now.  
"The facilities underground level caved as we were making our way inside. Tony and Steve fell through."  
"And their status? The S.H.I.E.L.D. director asked quickly.  
"Natasha spoke to Tony minutes before his suit failed on him, he said he was allright. No contact was made with Steve though."  
"Find them and get out of there. Mr. Tate can wait out the storm, he shouldn't have been so bold in the first place anyway." The director ordered.  
"Understood sir."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"This place sure is creepy." Steve muttered as they turned yet another corner, "I wish we could find a map or something... we'd be out in no time."  
"Aww, you scared sweetie? Want a man to hold you tight and make the monsters go away?" I couldn't help but tease as we walked. Steve shot me a dirty look through the candle light and I grinned in response before looking around, "Man I hope we're not going in circles or something, I swear I've seen that crack in the wall four times now."  
Steve cursed and sighed, "We need a way of keeping track of where we've been... Do you have anything on you that we'd see from a few feet away? Like a marker or something?"  
"Sure let me pull out my pack of Crayola markers I always have stored in my back pocket for you. No Steve, I don't." I huffed, slightly annoyed,"Get creative man or I will, and that will involve blood let me assure you."  
Steve shot me a dirtier look but thanks to the poor light I happily ignored it. He looked himself over for anything usefull but didn't seem to find anything, then looked me over. I couldn't help but strike a pose as his eyes wandered and he blushed as I did so.  
"Pervert..." He muttered, crossing his arms.  
"You're the one lookin'. Anyway, you admit defeat? Can I tell you my idea now?" Steve gave a small nod and I dragged him to the corner of the hall. I pointed at the plastered corner and said, "Hit it."  
"What?"  
"Hit it, break it so we can see we've been here. It shouldn't be that bad for you considering your enhanced, well, everything."  
"But I'll still feel it!"  
"Do you wanna get outta here or not?"  
Steve groaned angrily and reared a fist back. For one still moment I thought he was gonna hit me but then his knuckles collided with the wall and the corner exploded! He hissed in pain as he drew his hand back and inspected it. Small rivets of blood glittered where the skin had broken but there were no burises and even the cuts were already healing.  
"See, now everytime we hit a corner-"  
"Not every corner Tony, even I'm gonna damage something doing that." Steve hissed, shaking his hand.  
"Well anyway, let's go!" I chirped before dashing around the hall, Captain America close behind. We seemed to run down the halls, hitting ones where multiple halls opened up to us and Steve cursing me each and everytime. I had to laugh at the dated insults and responded with a few of my own modern ones, finding glee in watching Steve blush at the more raunchy ones.  
It all was almost enough to make me miss the sudden slam from around one of the corners. We both jumped at that and hurried onward, wondering if one of the doors was a bit loose on the hinges or something.  
What we saw when we rounded the corner was a hall full of firmly shut doors, footsteps sounding off in the darkness right out of the light's reach. Steve and I shared a look and a nod before we took off, Steve in the lead as we persued whoever was down here.  
The hall was long and we ran for what seemed like ages, fear, anger, and adrehnaline fueling our steps but in the end we came to a dead end, there was no way to go and no one had gotten past us.  
Steve, panting, turned to look at me and I could detect a note of fear in his eyes.  
"What... the... hell?" He hissed, edging closer to me, holding the candle out so we were protected by it's warm light. We could hear footsteps coming again from down the hall and they sounded like they were getting louder. Quietly, Steve snuffed out the candle and handed it to me before feeling his way to the middle of the hall.  
It was nearly silent for a dreadfull few minutes, the only sounds being those mysterious footfalls as someone ran at us. Then I listened to the footfalls run past us and I groaned.  
"You missed Captain Liberty!" I snarled just as the lights flickered back on around us.  
Steve was standing in the smack middle of the hall, arms held out straight in the air and knees bent like he was waiting for a large force to collide with him.  
There was absolutely no way anyone could skirt around him while maintaining the speed they did.  
Both of us, wide eyed, turned to look down the now lit hallway-a dead end hallway- for a sign of someone there.  
There was nothing. Not a door, not a window, not even a vent or a crack. Just a single flickering light bulb mounted to the wall. Steve knocked on the plaster several times, trying to find evidence of a hidden door but could find none, and no sign or a concealed break in the plaster either.  
A little frightened, although not willing to show it, I watched the trained soldier fail at finding what he looked for. He turned to me and we didn't need to say it, he just punched a hole in the wall and we tore down the opposite way, looking for some way out of here. We twisted around seemingly new corners and tore through halls. Soon it seemed we were in a completely new place, except for one thing: The door nearest the next, beaten, corner read Dr. Facileer, head of psychotics ward.  
"Dammit!" I groan, beating my fist against the wall. Steve gives a cough as the lights flicker around us agian and he scrambles to light a new match.  
It's just burst to life when the lights dim and we're surrounded by black darkness.  
Come... with... me...  
"Steve..." I force a shaky chuckle, "No need to be doin' that now."  
Come... WITH ME!  
"Tony... what are you talking about?"  
COME WITH ME!  
"You don't hear the whispering?" I ask, although now it's more like shouting.  
Bloody red... on the head... 'cause your dead!  
Whatever whispered through the darkness cackled and the sound danced closer and closer. Frantic I began jiggling the suddenelly jammed door handle, pausing to beat at the glass window in frustration now and again as the sounds come closer and closer. Steve is pulling at my arm to get me to calm down but I'm not having it as the door finally comes free and I tumble inside. Steve is quick to follow, closing the door and lighting our candle.  
I can still hear the laughing and I blow the candle out despite Steve's protests. I hear footsteps run by our door and fade away and I sigh in relief.  
Found you!  
There's a hand around my throat as Steve lights the candle and I scream, long and loud.  
"Geez Tony!" He cries as he probably sees me flail in fear. I'm screaming and lashing out at anything near me, bookcases, chairs, the wall, whatever. So long as nothing touches me!  
"Tony! Tony calm down!" Steve cries and he has me pinned against the wall by my arms, slamming me into the wall once to daze me and stop me from moving. Next thing I know I see him studying my face before letting go and standing up.  
"Better?" He asks, sitting on the dusty and decaying sofa.  
"How... how come you don't hear it?!" I cry, breathing still a little ragged.  
"Hear what?"  
"The whispers!" I cry, "Something had me by the neck! I could feel it!"  
I thought for a moment Steve looked skeptical, but as I watched him in the candlelight it seemed he was concerned.  
"Tony... it's just the dark."  
"And it was just a hand!" I shoot back, shivering.  
Steve sighs and sits back, shaking his head, "We need to get out of here."  
"No der Sherlock!" I cry angrily, standing up and touching the handle, "Come on."  
I wait for Steve to pick up the candle and then let him out first, all the while staying very close to him.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They were almost there... Almost to Steve and then it would be a snap to find Tony. The sprawling hallways weren't that big under here, it would take no more than an hour Natasha decided.  
Thor tossed a large bit of rock and they felt hope grow when they saw the top of an opening in the side of the wall. It must have been Tony's way out of the rubble.  
Natasha began to dig faster, not caring her hands were scraping and bloodying as she did so.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Wait a minute," Steve held out an arm and I got clotheslined by it, "Do you feel that?"  
"What?" I ask, looking at him.  
"A breeze..." Steve's looking around and holding his face out like he's trying to feel the welcome fresh air.  
"I don't feel anything." I admit, frowning, "Steve are you sure-"  
"Positive. Come on let's try this way." He said, leading my down a new hall as quick as he could. I didn't feel anything but the stale, damp air we'd been subjected to since our fall but I chalked it up to Steve's serum he was able to feel it and hoped it wasn't to far off, as this labrynth had it in for my aching and blistered feet.  
Behind us, I stiffened at the sound of shuffling.  
"Steve..." I whispered as the lights died around us again. I grabbed blindly for his arm but it was gone as he searched for the matches again to light our candle. I was utterly alone in the dark and the footsteps picked up speed. I whimpered, yes whimpered, as I felt a pair of hands snake around my throat and I fell to the ground.  
Hi there... you're coming with us you know... it's almost over...  
"Steve!" I choke out as the light surfaces and Steve turns around.  
"Why are you on the floor?" He asks as he helps me up. I'm shaking again and he frowns, "Are you cold or somethin'?"  
"No!... and yes... It's freezing in here! How are you not cold?"  
Steve merely shrugs and I roll my eyes.  
"But that's not what the problem is... Steve something else is in here! It's grabbed me now twice! It's trying to kill me!"  
"That can't be, I haven't heard or seen anything besides you going bonkers." Steve says, shaking his head. I snarl noisily and fold my arms, taking off again but letting Steve catch up. We walk in silence for awhile before I shiver again and remind Steve he needs to punch the wall.  
I recieve an amused look for my trouble and his fist creates a dusty cloud of plaster as chunks of peeling white wall fall to the yellow and blue tiles below. I plow on before theres a shuffling and I frown, turning back to see Steve nursing his hand, a good ten feet away from me.  
"Steve come on!" I cry but he just shakes his head.  
"Hold on," He says, digging splinters of wall out and I whine quietly as the shuffling continues. I turn to face the oncoming unknown and am only met with a passing shadow before the lights go out again.  
"Steve!"

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Come on! Another few inches..." Natasha breathed as the hole in the side of the rock and clay wall grew. Easily she could have slipped through already but that wasn't good enough. How would Steve fit? How would Tony (and his ego) fit? Or how would any of the guys fit if Natasha found she needed help? No, it had to be wider even if the gray clouds above threatened to freeze them with falling snow. They were taking their teammates-their friends-home.  
The Hulk gave a roar as he smashed through a section of collapsed flooring and sheetrock, smiling as it fell through to the abyss below.  
"Carefull!" Clint cried, "You could hit them!"  
The Hulk grunted in a half-hearted protest but proceeded to smash the rock with more care as they hurried. Clint shivered over them and Natasha neglected to notice the shiver that ran down her scraped and bloody hands. They didn't have much time left.  
"There! That's enough!" Thor cried as the last bit of rock fell away to create a descent sized hole to the below. Natasha grinned, walking over and plucking an arrow from Clint's quiver. She detonated it, a long black cord shooting out at the rock and lodging itself there. She proceeded to wrap the thin cord around her waist and positioned herself at the enterance.  
"Wait for my signal then follow me down." She instructed before disapearing into the darkness below.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I fought violently against the thing holding my neck, but I just seemed to be losing as my grip weakend.  
Then all at once it was gone. The force crushing my windpipe, the presence kneeling on my chest as it leered over me, even the whispered taunts and threats were suddenelly all gone as Steve grabbed under my shoulders and dragged me towards the candle light.  
Steve looked determined as well as angry as he dropped me uncerimouniously to the cold ground below.  
"What the hell man?" I cried, scrambling to me feet as Steve looked around, seeming a bit panicked now.  
"I can hear whispering too..." He said, "But... it seems familiar somehow, like I've heard it before."  
"And how is that possible?"  
"I... I don't know..." His face gained a far away look and I was afraid I was gonna lose Stars and Stripes right there. Yet he quickly snapped out of it as I doubled over in a sudden coughing fit, "We need to get you out of here."  
"How about getting us both out of here?" I wheeze before Steve helped me upright. There was a sudden pain in my diaphram and every other breath began to trigger more coughs.  
"You're not looking so good." Steve said and rolled my eyes. Gall had it always been so bloody freezing?  
"I dunno, seems to be getting warmer to me." Steve said. I must not have realised I'd asked that aloud.  
"How can this place get warmer?" I snap as we walk slowly down the hall, turning the corner as Steve led the way.  
"I dunno, I just remember when we were stuck in that collapsed hallway things were so cold... and painfull because of the rocks. I swear Tony I thought I was gonna die under that crushing weight." He shivered, "That goes right up there with freezing in Red Skull's airplane. Anyway, after we started walking around things just seemed to warm up. Maybe it's cause I was holding the candle?"  
I could only shrug.  
"How did you survive Tony? I thought for sure you'd have been dead in just that." He nodded to my t-shirt and jeans, streaked where the dust had rubbed away. Somehow Steve still remained perfectly dusty though, not a spec had left him.  
"I had my suit... remember?" I ask and Steve frowns while I chuckle, "You may be toasty now Cap but your brain is sure frozen." Then I realise something, not all of me is cold, just the areas touching... Steve?  
Testing my theory, I reach out my fingers to touch the hand around my waist as he drags me along. It's colder than ice!  
"Steve... if you're not cold why do you feel so cold?"  
About that time the shadow-My Stalker Friend-slapped a freezing hand to my shoulder, "It's all in the name of you Tony."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Natasha helped Banner as he and Thor eased themselves into the dark chamber where they're friends had been. Tony's abandoned suit lay in a heap near the hole that led to he rest of the underground part of the facility. Natasha clicked on her flashlight and swung the light around while outside the lights flickered from time to time, yet never turning off thankfully.  
It was so cold down here as the temperature outside dropped, the Avengers trying to ignore it while they searched.  
They found the crushed body of Mr. Tate, the man they'd been chasing, under some of the rock. Well, nothing they could do now rifght? Then Thor overturned a large, less unstable, section of rock and as it came away around him he heard Banner gasp in surprise and anguish.  
Natasha felt a burning pressure in her throat and behind her eyes as well.  
"No..." She whispered.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Steve and I turned to see the Stalker Shadow smiling as he gripped my shoulder. Quickly we reeled away from him and Steve snarled.  
"Mr. Tate?" He inquired and the man, no longer engulfed in shadow, gave a small bow. He looked more like rat than a man to me, buck teeth, pointed nose the whole face seemed to pull to, and he twitched this way and that from time to time. His hair was black though, and I could see small whisps of shadows escaping from it from time to time.  
"In the... well not flesh, shadow?" He grinned, "I must say it's nice to be dead and conscious."  
"What?" Steve and I both asked as his face twisted, becoming bloody and demonic as he cackled.  
"Dead and conscious. Most never are, but with my abilities I realised it the moment I was crushed in that collapsed rubble." Mr. Tate sneered, looking between Steve and I.  
"Abilities?" I coughed.  
"To become one with the shadows," Mr. Tate shrugged, "How do you think I got out of that prison? It was a matter of time, what with the snow storm coming and all. The perfect chance for escape."  
"But now you're dead." Steve said simply, "That doesn't bother you?"  
Mr. Tate shrugged, "This facility was my home, the one place I seemed even slightly happy."  
"Your that kid in the pictures..." The rest of my words were cut off by another coughing fit and Mr. Tate nodded.  
"Doctor Facileer was a wonderfull man... he destroyed that useless flesh my father sent me here with..." His faraway look suggested he'd lost himself to the memories of his time here.  
"You mother?" Steve looked disgusted, "You piece of trash, maybe it's a good thing you're dead-"  
"Oh it is Mr. Rogers, now there's nothing holding me back!" He snarled, jumping at us, demonic face twisted in gleefull madness.  
Steve was suddenelly gone from my side as we swung at the man, my arm passing right through him as he laughed, fingers locking onto my neck.  
"Ghosts can touch mortals, but mortals can't touch ghosts." He cackled, begining to squeeze when he suddenelly gave a cry.  
Behind us Steve had grabbed Mr. Tate's neck, his hand glowing a soft white where it made contact with the murder's skin. Mr. Tate choked, trying to look back at Stars and Stripes while his grip weakened around my neck, the hand falling away.  
All I could do was stand there, looking like a clueless idiot while Steve pinned Mr. Tate to the ground, Mr. Tate glowing white wherever Steve touched him.  
"Steve?" I whispered before descending into a coughing fit.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Natasha could only cradle the bloody head as Thor removed his flowing red cape, using it as a sort of blanket to wrap the broken body in. His blood soaked into the cape where the material touched the pools beside open wounds that could no longer cry.  
He didn't even look all that crushed, more bruised and scratched with serious gashes around his body. There was a particularly nasty one along the back of his neck where the jugular had been sliced open as the crushing weight had descended upon him. Natasha knew he would have died quickly, maybe he didn't even feel the impact of the fall? Maybe he never realised he was dying as he fell... he hadn't had to fear death right?  
Banner stood by the wall, leaning heavily by it. No one looked his way, giving the Doctor some time alone as Thor gingerly picked up the body and cradled it like a baby. Natasha tied the corners of the cape to a mobile pulley system from her belt and made the agonizing trip up to pull her comrades body to the surface.  
Thor could only watch as his Captain's body was raised to the cold air above how he looked like he was asleep.  
Then the warrior turned to the entrance of the rest of the facility.  
Time to bring the other one home.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tate screamed as Steve held him there, not even fighting him just pinned him down. Then he turned to me and I felt my knees go weak.  
"Steve..." I whispered again, "Steve how come you can touch him?"  
Steve looked just as confused as I was, but he didn't let up and instead slammed Tate against the floor hard enough to stun him. Then he scrambled over to me, "Let's go." He forced me to move. How was he touching me? How was any of this possible? Steve what happened to you?!  
As I looked over my friend again, I finally noticed a deep red gash running along his neck, the cuts that never really did heal, the dust that left him wasn't dust... he was pale because he was...  
I couldn't even say it.  
"Let's go!" He cried, rushing me away from the hall where Tate was starting to come around. We ran like mad men until my legs gave out and he was nearly dragging me. He was ice cold to the touch and it was like I was a child again, I wanted away from him. I was frightened.  
"Tony please!" Steve cried as I lagged even further, "Tony come on before he comes back!"  
We ran and ran, Steve somehow knowing the way as he was leading. I followed blindly, all I could think about was how was any of this possible?  
Finally something inside me snapped awake and I jerked away from Captain America, "No!"  
"Tony!"  
"No how is this possible?!" I thrust a hand towards him and my fingers only met cold air where his chest should have been, "Why?!"  
"I dont know okay?" Steve cried, "But we have to get out of here regardless right? Maybe this is... is my unfinished buisness? Getting you to safety." All the fear slowly drained from his face and I could see more and more of the soldier persona shine through, like when we first met. All I saw was some soldier under Fury instead of a friend.  
"Steve..." The air was leaving me. One of my friends was dead, a real friend, was a ghost standing before me. While another ghost went on a psychotic rampage after us meanwhile we're stuck in a practical labrynth and...  
My head was gonna explode... I was sure of it. We were done for and my head would detonate like a bomb long before Tate could get to us.  
"Tony lets figure it out later allright?" Now he was being all soft on me... I didn't know whether to find that insulting or comforting...  
Finding it the only thing I could do, I turned the way we'd been going, and allowed Captain America to try and lead me to escape. As we ran the lights ahead of us flickered on while the ones we passed exploded with small tinks! as we heard a cackle from the dark shadows behind us. Tate was catching up, and I felt my breathe start to strain in fear... Tony Stark was afraid and in extreme need of some hard liquor.  
After what seemed like forever I turned down the corner that seemed the most familiar. Suddenelly we were standing outside the office of the doctor Facileer, Steve leading me inside.  
"I thought we were escaping!" I cry but Steve just pushes me onto the couch.  
"I don't know what it is, but I have this... premonition maybe? Like I need to keep you here."  
Outside the door rattled and there was a growl. I squeaked in fear and Steve tensed, ready for a fight. Instead the doorknob broke and the glass cracked but that was it.  
Steve relaxed and I leaned forward, leaning on my knees as I buried my face in my hands and moaned.  
"Why?" I cried eventually, looking at Steve, "How can you be dead?"  
Indeed as it seemed that Steve had realised he was no longer among the living he'd turned clear, like a regular Casper! He looked beaten and bruised, the gashes returning to spit blood along his body and ripped uniform. Yet it all didn't seem to affect him, he acted like the injuries weren't there. He could only smile weakly and shrug while I shot up, slamming a hand against the wall hard enough to make the hanging pictures rattle.  
I'd lost alot in my life, my parents, Yinsen... I'd thought Obidiah was someone I could trust until he'd betrayed me... which had made it all the harder for when I lost him too. Then there was Phil Coulsen... and the time I thought I lost Pepper was enough to make me wake up in cold sweats screaming some nights.  
And now Steve had been added to the roster.  
He caught me looking at him and he smiled weakly.  
"Hey Tony, it's allright. I can see my folks again... not to mention Bucky and all my pals I left behind."  
"What about Peggy?"  
Steve seemed surpised I knew about her and I cold only shrug, "I did a little light reading so sue me."  
"Seems more than a little..." Steve muttered as I sat down beside him.  
"You're dead Steve what does it matter?" I ask, voice growing pressured. Gosh why was it so hard to breathe? "How are you dead?"  
"I guess... ah that's right." Steve nodded, the memories returning, "When I was lying there and it was all cold... I was dead by them. I literally died in the fall Tony. I remmeber giving a surprised scream... then my neck hurt and we landed. I was so confused for a time and now I know it's because I was dead and just didn't understand."  
"You couldn't move on because I was still in danger... from this place and from Tate." I said, staring hard at the ground. No one would see me crumble, not even the Captain.  
"Yeah... I wonder what his unfinished buisness is?" Steve wondered.  
"Does it matter?" I ask and Steve turned solemn again.  
"I guess not..."  
"Steve..." I cursed inwardly as my voice cracked as I realised... this was it. The moment I was safe I wasn't seeing my friend again for a long time.  
"Hey it's allright," Steve said gently, clapping a hand to my back, "I'll be in a better, and far more safer place allright?"  
"But... but you didn't get to see so many things we have now... you didn't meet up with Peggy... your date..."  
"It doesn't matter now right? Besides, would it have really worked between us anyway considering... well... everything?" Steve grinned and I scowled, hearing a rush of footsteps down the hall. I saw Steve begin to fade before me.  
"Steve wait!" I cry, trying not to sound childish.  
"Sorry Tony, hey don't ever quit being the smartass you always were. I think someone some where would die from the shock."  
"And don't you quit bein' Captain... well... would it be America? Maybe Captain Feathers now..." I try to smile as Steve disapeared.  
As the door opened and the shadows caught up to me... I truly felt the grief of loosing a friend wash over me.  
All I could say... all I could think... all I could comprehend was  
"Steve's dead."  
And he wasn't coming back.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tony had wandered around the seven or six halls of the facility for hours in an almost delerious state. Natasha and Pepper listened patiently as Tony recounted stories of how he and Steve were chased by Mr. Tate, found Dr. Facileer's office, and used a candle every time the lights went out.  
But then the poor man would seem to remember himself as he leaned back in his hospital bed and stated, "But Steve's dead..."  
Natasha sighed, worried.  
There had never been any notebooks, there had never been thousands upon thousands of halls and Tony's labrynth was actually a small facility complete with signs and everything. Thor and Bruce decided the large gash on his head had been the cause for his temporary delerium. Although they had no idea how he'd dragged himself up and down the halls with smashed ribs and a twisted ankle. That suit hadn't been nearly as sturdy as he'd claimed.  
Steve's service was a dignified one, very beautiful. Tony pulled out all the stops although he did so begrudgingly, like he didn't want to believe Steve was dead and he'd been alone in an empty office in the corner the whole time.  
He also refused to believe Fury when he said that Tate's abilities were to pass through solid objects, not "control the shadows" as he'd claimed. There was no way he could have attacked Tony down there, especially since he'd been dead before any of Tony's "stories" had started.  
But Tony still believed, and he'd see it every night as he dreamed of long winding, shadowed halls filled with cackles and running figures. The laughs and figuers were many, old and young, women and men, and he swore he saw children sometimes.  
And always a rat faced man promising to rise from the darkness and drag Tony back with him.  
And this time, there would be no Steve to save him.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


	3. Hide and Seek

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On Halloween night six kids decide to visit the local haunted house as a joke. When they get there they meet two little soldier boys and together the eight decide a few games of hide and seek will draw the ghosts out to play.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Greetings and Salutations! I have returned once again to this fic to bring you this year's drabble of Terror! On behalf of myself and the characters featured in tonight's program I wish you a very happy and safe Halloween and hope you all gets lot's of tricks and/or treats.
> 
> Now I guess to avoid any obvious confusion I should mention this year's fic is a Kid!AU with, obviously, most of the characters as Elementary school kids. Some stayed adults though, just so we have a parent or two crammed in there...
> 
> Now, with that out of the way here you are, tonight's fic is filled with romance, heartbreak, and lot's of tricks. Ladies, Gentelmen, Demi-gods and Dark Elves, I give you: Hide and Seek.
> 
> Enjoy! (And Review!) \\('O,,O')/
> 
> Also, major thank you's to my friend DJ, because he's a lot more knowledgeable about the Marvel Universe and without who this fic would have probably been twisted in a few wrong directions.

Also, major thank you's to my friend DJ, because he's a lot more knowledgeable about the Marvel Universe and without who this fic would have probably been twisted in a few wrong directions.

With Halloween only two days away, it was a wonder Tony hadn't exploded right there on the pavement from all the excitement he was obviously bottling up. It of course leaked out into loud exclamations and buzzed conversations of how great Friday night was going to be though, and as Bruce allowed him to carry on and on, he'd wound himself up so much he was squealing with the excitement of a five year old on Christmas morning.

Speaking of five year old's, Thor's little brother Loki was taking an unusual amount of time walking out the door of the school. The rest of his class was already out here, but where was he? Beside Bruce, Thor gave a huff of impatience, the nine year old hated waiting for his brother. He also hated having to walk him home, as it meant he had to go straight home and not wherever he pleased with any of his friends. Bruce had listened to Thor's complaints of why Loki couldn't just take the bus like he had when he was in kindergarten, and that his parents were stupid for making him drag the usually ornery five year old home when the two clearly didn't want to be around each other.

"So anyway," Tony was saying, "Last night Jarvis and I got my costume! Guess who it is!"

"Could it be... Batman?" Bruce guessed, grinning. Batman had been Tony's latest favorite superhero, a couple months ago it had been Superman, but now he said Batman just somehow appealed to him more. Bruce didn't suspect it had to do with all the toys and gadgets the hero possessed, or that he was rich like Tony was (his dad owned a Power Tools company), or that Batman could do karate (something deemed cool by Tony after he'd watched a kung-fu movie one night).

No, not at all. That had nothing to do with any of it.

"There he is!" Thor suddenly cried, cutting Tony off from confirming or denying Bruce's guess and snapping Bruce himself out of his own thoughts.

Out the large green metal doors raced a small pale kindergartner, weighed down by a Toothless backpack and swinging a How to Train your Dragon lunchbox in one tiny fist, he sped towards his older brother and his friends, panting.

"Where were you?" Thor snapped as he started to walk, not waiting for Loki to catch his breath.

"My teacher was being stupid!" Loki snapped, trailing after his brother and his friends, "She wouldn't let us go because she thought that Peter was talking when she was and that he was talking to Mary-Jane and Gwen and Kat kept playing with her hair stuff and-"

"Alright, I get it." Thor groaned, turning and snatching Loki's backpack from him to slip over his own should alongside his own, "Now walk faster, we gotta get home and see if Mom bought our costumes yet."

"I'm making mine!" Loki said, grinning.

"Great, whatever." Thor groaned, turning to Tony, "So you're Batman right?"

"Nope!" Tony declared, "I'm gonna be Star-Lord!"

"Everyone is gonna be Star-Lord." Bruce pointed out from Tony's other side, "The movie came out, what, a month ago? Everyone's gonna wanna be Star-Lord."

"Or Gamora." Thor grinned, "She was hot!"

"I liked the Tree man!" Loki added from behind the three, but was promptly ignored.

"Besides, I thought you liked Rocket better." Bruce said, remembering how Tony had proceeded to act like the Raccoon for the rest of the afternoon the day they went to see the movie. Natasha's dad had threatened to pitch the poor kid out the front window of the McDonald's the group had stopped at for lunch afterwards because Tony asked if he could use whatever Mr. Fury kept under his eye-patch-because it had to be cooler than a regular eye-ball right? Clint had swiftly agreed with the eight year old and gotten the same threat of flying through the front window.

Clint had said he thought it'd be cool to fly and wasn't afraid and that was the end of that conversation.

"Yeah, but do you know how hard it is to put together a Raccoon costume? Jarvis would never go for it!"

Bruce sighed, knowing Tony was right. As cool as it would be, no parent (or Butler, in Jarvis' case) would ever have the patience to make a raccoon costume-especially if they were making it for a kid as impatient and demanding as Tony Stark. Bruce had to grin, thinking about how easy his costume had been to put together this year, Mr. Coulson and Miss Hill had seemed rather overjoyed at how little needed to be done for his costume because it meant they could spend as much time as they needed on both his and Clint Barton's.

"So who are you guys going as?" Tony asked, looking between Thor and Bruce. Behind them Loki tripped up on a crack in the sidewalk but recovered before he could fall to the ground.

Thor drew himself up to his full height and puffed out his chest, "I'm going as a Pirate!"

"No you're not!" Loki argued, "That's not what you said yesterday!"

"Well that's what I've decided today duh." Thor snapped, giving Loki a small shove backwards.

"I'm going as Sherlock Holmes." Bruce said, turning to Tony as the two brothers looked like they were gearing up for a fight. Thor sneered at Loki, who promptly used his small fists to hit at Thor's side.

"Sweet." Tony grinned, "Did you get the hat and everything?" Beside them Thor had begun flicking Loki's forehead.

Bruce shrugged as Loki gave Thor a kick to the shin which prompted a few choice words as an insult from the older kid, "Miss Hill said she'd look for it today, I dunno if she managed to get it."

"I hope she did." Tony nodded as Thor stormed forward away from his brother, who stamped his foot childishly and tore after, screeching about how mean Thor was.

"We better hurry before those two leave us behind." Bruce said, tugging Tony along as Thor gave Loki's ears a boxing.

"And would that be so bad?" Tony asked while Loki cried out and began pounding his small fists on Thor's stomach again, "Not like we couldn't make it home on our own."

"Still..." Bruce sighed as Thor snatched both his brother's wrists in one hand and gave the side of his head another swift smack.

"Stark! Banner!" Thor called as he tugged his struggling brother along, "Let's go!"

"I'm gonna tell mom!" Loki snarled as he was pulled along.

"Just try it and you wont be able to eat for a week." Thor growled.

"You're a bully!"

"So what else is new?"

"I hate you!"

"That goes double for you."

"Will you two quit it?" Tony groaned, "I swear I'd rather walk home with Pepper and all those stupid girls!"

"Of course you'd rather walk home with Pepper you cootie-magnet." Bruce grinned, it was a rather widely known fact that Pepper and Tony had already breached the barrier that usually kept boys and girls far apart from each other. Jane Foster swore to the sky she saw Tony kiss Pepper once, while Rhodey had merely giggled saying he saw them together at Pepper's house playing in her backyard (and he swore on his comic books it had happened, so he must have seen it!). During Valentines day this year Pepper had gotten an expensive grown-up card in her box and everyone had teased her and Tony, saying they were boyfriend and girlfriend.

"I am not a cootie-magnet!" Tony snarled, going red, "Whoever said that is stupid!"

"I'm actually smarter than you, I'll have you know." Bruce grinned, then promptly ran as Tony began chasing him.

"What's a cootie-magnet?" Loki asked Thor as they ceased their fighting to watch Tony threaten Bruce's very life.

"Tony Stark." Thor answered and Loki nodded, the answer making perfect sense in his mind. Thor promptly released his brother's hands and they hurried to catch up with Tony and Bruce, who was pinned underneath the former protecting his head as Tony pounded on his back.

"So you're the reason everyone's been giving me crap?! Obadiah kept asking why I wasn't on the girl's team in gym today because of you!"

"I just called you a cootie-magnet!" Bruce whined, "Thor was the one who said the two of you were gonna get married."

"Oh really?" Tony growled, turning to look at the blonde boy, who promptly dumped both the backpacks on his shoulders on his brother and took off running down the street.

"Thor wait!" Loki cried, trying to catch up but not nearly fast enough-especially with two heavy backpacks and a lunchbox weighing him down, "Thor! Don't leave me!"

"It's alright," Bruce coughed, picking himself up from the concrete, "Let's just wait for Tony to work off his cootie-rage."

"But mom said-"

"It's fine Loki." Bruce said, ushering the kid along and taking Thor's backpack from his struggling arms, "With any luck your brother's probably gonna out run him."

"Nah, Thor'll hit him when he get's to close." Loki grinned, "He's good at fighting games."

"Really?"

"Yeah, he and Volstagg do them all the time and Thor always wins!"

"What about that time Volstagg twisted his arm?"

"Volstagg cheated."

"Ah."

The two walked together slowly, up ahead Thor and Tony had turned the corner on Hardin street where they knew a park was waiting for them with a large spacious field. They found Thor there, pinning Tony to the dirt and laughing as Tony struggled to make a fist connect with his newly sworn enemy.

"You wont win Stark! I'm a champion fighter!" Thor boasted.

"You're also a liar!" Tony snarled, managing a knee to Thor's kidneys and rolling out from under him as he coughed. Tony quickly picked himself up and began to run down the street, chased by a laughing Bruce as Loki hurried to his brother's side.

"You okay?" He asked, sounding worried.

"Fine. Where's my bag?" Thor whispered, picking himself up and rubbing his stomach.

"Bruce took it." Loki said.

"What?" Thor cried, "Oh! Thanks a lot you idiot!" And with that he tore after the two, leaving Loki to hurry after as fast as his small little legs could carry him.

"Thor! Wait!" Loki cried, but was drowned out by panicked shouts as Tony and Bruce realized Thor was chasing them with a mad fury.

Bruce and Tony made it almost all the way home before Thor caught up, tackling Bruce to someone's lawn and tearing his bag from his shoulders. Bruce groaned, not appreciating another physical assault so soon after his last one. Tony hadn't bothered to look back until he reached the corner of the street and even then he didn't run back to help.

Thor slowly climbed off of Banner, pulling his bag across his shoulders and smirking at his handiwork. Bruce picked himself up, rubbing dirt from his pants and hoping his knees would stop aching soon.

Loki was still running towards them, yelling at Thor to wait for him.

"Well I guess Loki and I'll head back, we should have turned back anyway." Thor said as he grinned, his thirst for blood sated for now.

"Yeah, great." Bruce griped, "And next time just ask for the bag back! You didn't have to tackle me."

"Of course I did!" Thor laughed, jogging to meet up with his brother before pushing him the way they'd come and heading home.

"Jerk..." Bruce grumbled, walking alone down the street and two blocks over till he reached his front door. Inside Clint was already home and he'd brought Natasha over; the two sat in the living room watching a Spider-man cartoon and ate snacks obviously stolen from the pantry.

"Miss Hill is gonna have a fit you know." Bruce pointed out as he stood in the doorway.

"Don't care. Go away." Clint said, waving his foster brother off as the cartoon's villain began to fight Spider-man.

"She said those were for lunches."

"And I saved these from my lunches. Now go away."

Bruce scowled, then dumped his stuff by the front door and flopped in a heap on the large chair by the couch.

"Hi Natasha."

"Hi Bruce." Natasha said, not tearing her eyes from the screen.

Bruce, Clint, and Natasha were all in the same class, alongside Thor and Tony. One would think they'd all walk home together but for some reason Clint and Natasha always took off by themselves. They got teased for cooties just as badly as Tony and Pepper did, but it didn't look like either of them minded-especially Clint, who would just grin and nod like they were really together or something. Natasha usually just shrugged and denied everything.

Bruce totally thought Clint and Natasha were cootie-magnets. It was obvious.

From the front hall they all heard the door open and close, where came the sound of someone entering and stuffing keys back into their pocket or purse as it was hung up. Seconds later Miss Hill appeared, grinning as she saw her boys were home. She grinned wider at seeing Natasha sitting beside Clint but a shadow passed over that grin when she noticed so many fruit snack wrappers surrounding them.

"Clint you know those are for lunches right?" She asked, crossing her arms.

"I saved them from my lunches." Clint said innocently, turning to grin at her.

"Sure you did kid," Miss Hill nodded as she walked into the kitchen, "And yet I walk into the pantry to find... a full box of fruit snacks. Wow."

"I told you!" Clint laughed, sharing a grin with Natasha as he passed her another bag of snacks.

"Fine, whatever." Miss Hill grinned as she walked back into the living room and sat on the arm of Bruce's chair, "And how are you today kid?"

"Fine." Bruce shrugged, "Thor chased Tony and I all the way home today."

"That kid is really violent." Miss Hill frowned.

"Nah, he's cool."

"Well anyway," She clapped a hand on Bruce's shoulder, "I couldn't find the hat today but I'll go back and look tomorrow-Halloween's only on Friday don't worry."

"It's not like I need it." Bruce said, "It'd just be fun to wear it."

"Did you get mine done Miss Hill?" Clint asked excitedly.

"I dunno," Miss Hill grinned, "Why don't you go check your room?"

Clint gave an excited gasp and he and Natasha tore upstairs to his room, fruit snacks and cartoons forgotten.

"Wait for it," Miss Hill said softly, holding up a hand and counting down the seconds with her fingers.

"NO WAY!" They heard Clint cry from upstairs and the loud thumping of two sets of running footsteps were heard as he hurried back into the living room, "BRUCE LOOK! IT'S GREEN ARROW!" He held up a green tunic with a hood in one hand, a black mask and a quiver of arrows in the other. Behind him Natasha bounced up and down excitedly, grinning from ear to ear.

"Cool." Bruce grinned from his seat as Miss Hill laughed.

"Now what do you say to the woman who slaved all day in the stores looking for the costume?" She grinned.

"THANK YOU!" Clint cried, running to hug the woman around the legs. Hill laughed again and after she pried him off Natasha pulled him back upstairs so he could try it on. With the two gone again, Miss Hill snatched up the remote and began surfing the channels for something more interesting to watch, brushing some of the fruit snack wrappers from the couch so she could sit back in the leather upholstered comfort. Bruce remained where he was, curling up in a ball to watch as the TV settled on a Halloween special-Scary Godmother.

"Oh I haven't seen this in forever!" Miss Hill said, turning to Bruce, "You like this one right?"

"Yeah." Bruce grinned, when in truth he couldn't remember. Did he? He'd only seen it for the first time last year.

"So besides Thor chasing you, how was school?" Miss Hill asked.

"Okay, we had a math test today."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I think I did really good."

"You better have after Phil stayed up late to help you last week."

"I think that's what helped."

Miss Hill smiled, "I'm glad to hear it."

Bruce was interrupted from saying anything else as Clint appeared in the living room dressed in his costume and aiming green foam arrows at everything with his bow.

"Look at me! I'm Green Arrow!" He cried before letting an arrow loose and watching as it connected with the wall clock, knocking it down.

"Clinton Francis Barton!"

"Quick Black Canary! Run!" Clint cried as he and Natasha ran back up the stairs for the third time.

Halloween was tomorrow, but that thought alone wasn't enough to rouse Bruce from sleep and willingly get ready for school that morning.

"Come on Banner," Phil Coulson said enthusiastically, "The sooner you get through today the sooner you get to tomorrow!"

"If I went back to sleep I'd probably get to tomorrow a lot faster too." Bruce pointed out and beside him Clint snorted into his cereal.

Mr. Coulson sighed before taking a long swig of his coffee and grinning down at the boys, "Well either way you can't sit there forever. Come on, you two are gonna be late."

"So Nat," Tony said over lunch as he plunked down into the seat in front of her, "What are you going as tomorrow night?"

Natasha shrugged, "I wanted to go as Black Canary but my Dad said he got me a costume."

"He didn't let you pick?" Tony asked, sounding bewildered. Not getting to pick was like a corporal punishment to him.

Natasha shook her head, her red curls bouncing, "He said it was perfect for me and he couldn't resist," She grinned halfheartedly, "I'm rather worried now that I think about it."

"Anyone would be-you don't let parents choose your Halloween costume." Bruce said to which all the kids around him nodded.

"Loki even chose his own costume-three or four times but he still decided on his own."

"What is he?" Clint asked.

"I think he's Harry Potter."

"Cool." Tony grinned, "Although really he should go as Voldemort."

"That's what I told him!" Thor laughed.

"Aww, that's mean." Natasha sniggered, "How'd he react?"

"He tried to throw his book at me." Thor laughed, "So I threw it back and he started crying-he's such a baby!"

"Well you would know, you're the one who has to change his diapers." Clint said, tearing into a fruit snack and handing three of the pieces to Natasha under the table, "Anyway, he's not coming with us tomorrow night right? Your parents are taking him?"

"They better be." Thor growled, remembering how last year had been a near fiasco-he'd only managed to hit half the houses he wanted because Loki had slowed him down. And then, he'd eaten so much of his candy as they walked around he'd been sick when they got home and their mom had an absolute fit! She blamed Thor and raged on and on about drugs possibly being in the candies she hadn't been able to check. Thankfully their dad had calmed her down or else no one would have noticed that Loki was about ready to puke all over his shoes in time.

"I'm sure they will-he has no place with us after all." Natasha said as she stood up with her tray, "Anyway, lunch is over. Let's go before Pepper and her gang completely take over the playground."

"That's not really a problem-we just send Tony in and he'll convince her to give something up." Bruce teased, receiving an elbow to the ribs for his trouble.

Halloween morning was the crispest and coldest morning the community had experienced yet. Jackets were zipped tighter, mittens pulled tighter around shivering fingers, and scarves wrapped tight enough to nearly choke small children as everyone braved the cold weather to get to their bus stops. Bruce and Clint stood leaning against their's, half-awake and wishing it was Saturday morning already-allowing them to sleep in. Not long after they arrived, Natasha was dropped off at the curb by her dad in a black car. She tugged her leather jacket tighter around her frame before going to stand beside Clint, grinning as she pulled the layers of jackets and scarves away from her chest to reveal the Pumpkin shirt she was wearing-saying it had been her dad's idea. Clint was quick to then reveal his bird-of-prey tattoo on his upper arm, saying it had been in a small bucket of candy and small toys Mr. Coulson and Miss Hill had left waiting at the ends of Bruce and his beds.

"Happy Halloween!" They'd cried when Bruce and Clint had made it downstairs, nibbling on tootsie rolls and applying temporary tattoos to body parts the teachers wouldn't easily see.

Bruce had a green devil on his shoulder, and he was careful to not move it to much so the tattoo wouldn't get rubbed off by the shirt.

School seemed a bit more bearable today, the teachers seeming to clue in to the fact that their students were far to excited about tonight to really focus on anything all that important. They instead wore different Halloween themed headbands and centered lessons around pumpkins and witches, asking how many treats Timmy would get if he went to so many houses that gave out so many treats or relating the stories of early Halloween traditions when just yesterday they'd been learning about the pioneers.

Tony however was twice as obnoxious, and it was already like he'd devoured his entire future Halloween stash he bounced around so hard. Bruce found kicking him in the shin to become a tiresome chore as he disrupted their table mates and eventually gave up, figuring he'd get him back at recess.

Or better yet the walk home, where there'd be no teachers to stop him teaching his best friend a lesson or two on not being annoying.

"It was so cool!" Loki cried spazztically, waving his lunchbox around and nearly banging Thor's arm, "Mrs. What's-her-face wore cat ears and Gwen got to wear her witches hat and we got pumpkin-looking cookies for snack time-oh not pumpkin, pumpkin cookies, those would be gross. They just looked like pumpkins-actually they looked like those Jackie-lantern things and they had sprinkles and-"

"Breathe man!" Tony cried, silencing the five year old, "Geez, how do you not pass out all the time?"

"It's a gift." Thor said flatly, adjusting the position of the two backpacks on his shoulders, "You should see him at the dinner table."

"I have seen him at the dinner table."

"Oh yeah, that's right." Thor grinned, looking at his brother, "Remember? You sent your mashed potatoes into the wall."

"Did not!" Loki argued.

"Did too."

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Ladies!" Bruce groaned, silencing the Odinsons rather effectively, "Before you two can sink into another catfight we need to know Thor, are you gonna be there tonight?"

"Huh? Be where?" Loki frowned, looking between his brother and his friends. Thor winced before nodding rather painfully.

"Probably..." He muttered, turning to storm away as Loki began to question where Thor was gonna be tonight.

"Wait, you're not gonna trick or treat with me?" He asked, receiving a stormy look from Thor.

"No. I'm going with my friends this year."

"But we went with our friends last-"

"No Loki! My friends! Not yours, MINE!" Thor cried, "Now come on, we gotta get home."

"No!" Loki whined, "It's not gonna be fun without you!"

"I think you'll manage just fine with mom."

"Thor!"

"No! Now lets go!"

"THOR!"

Bruce groaned, looking at Tony, "I really hope his mom takes him..."

"You and everyone else man." Tony said, taking a bite from a chocolate bar.

This was it. The night was here. Bruce clutched the open corners of his pillowcase, anxious with the anticipation of filling it with candy tonight and making it so heavy he could barely carry it. He sat back in the large leather chair, watching Clint get pieced together carefully by Miss Hill as she fastened the quiver around his chest. The green tunic's hood was pulled up over his spiky hair and a black mask covered his eyes.

He grinned at Bruce, who grinned back, and then leapt away as soon as Miss Hill proclaimed she'd finished. Quickly he snatched an arrow into his hand and began to aim around the room with his bow-his eye straying to a certain clock that had only just been fixed and replaced this morning.

"Clint..." Mr. Coulson said in a warning tone from behind the couch. Clint at least had the grace to look partially remorseful but he still released an arrow and let it knock the wall next to the clock anyway.

"Bruce? You ready?" Miss Hill asked as Mr. Coulson chased Clint around the living room, threatening to take all his arrows away as the child cackled deviously. Eventually Mr. Coulson hopped over the back of the couch just as Clint rounded it's corner and with moves faster than lightning he'd snatched the quiver of arrows, silently threatening to tear it from the boy's back if he moved even an inch. Bruce sniggered from beside Miss Hill, and before either Coulson or Clint could move foreward in their battle of wills the doorbell rang and the quiver was dropped as it was forgotten in the man's haste to open the door.

In blew Batman-oh wait no, it was actually Tony Stark; followed by an older man wearing a white button down and black slacks, a small night-bag slung over his shoulder. His dark thinning hair was combed back and he smiled at Coulson with a face that showed signs of age and fatigue though his manner suggested the exact opposite. He set the night bag onto the floor and sighed as he straightened, rubbing his lower back.

"I hope we're not to late," The man said, "Tony was so excited he wouldn't stop talking about it since he got home-talked his mother's ear off as she was helping him get ready."

"Oh it's no trouble." Mr. Coulson said, walking into the living room alongside the Stark's butler, Edwin Jarvis, "You two are actually the first ones here."

"Ah, good." Jarvis grinned, "Well if you need anything you know the usual numbers-I need to get back, Mr. and Mrs. Stark are hosting a charity event back at the house and well, someone has to serve the drinks."

Mr. Coulson chuckled lightly, clapping Jarvis gently on the shoulder, "Well then we wont keep you, don't worry Tony will be fine and ready for when you pick him up in the morning."

"Excellent." Jarvis smiled, venturing further into the living room and touching his employer's son on the shoulder. Tony paused in his excited buzzing to Bruce and Clint to turn and grin at Jarvis.

"I'm leaving now-behave." Jarvis said, appearing stern but there was a small glimmer in his eye.

"I always behave." Tony grinned, hugging Jarvis around the neck before quickly releasing him and turning back to his friends. Jarvis smiled, turning and waving goodbye to Miss Hill before promptly exiting through the front door. Not twenty seconds later there was a short and abrupt knock at the door and in came Natasha being dragged by her tall and rather intimidating adopted father, Nick Fury.

The reaction of Natasha's friends to her Halloween costume wasn't nearly as bad as she'd expected it to be, but she still blushed angrily and refused to come out from behind Fury's leg. The two words that barreled into one's mind when they saw her was "Pink" and "Frilly", neither of which were the little girl's style so to see it on her, and see it look good even to a group of small boys, was a bit of a mind trip. It looked to be a combination of Disney and Fairy princess, the pink dress sparkling with glitter and puffy sleeves, gold thread twisting and turning in intricate designs throughout the bodice and skirt, which was pushed out from the soft underskirts underneath; a small diamond tiara was set in her red curly hair, thin gold ribbons on either side hiding the hairpins that kept it in place.

"She looks adorable." Mr. Coulson breathed, grinning wide at Mr. Fury, laughter bubbling up in his throat. Mr. Fury grinned wide and stepped around his daughter so he could show her off properly.

"I found the costume while I was out doing the grocery shopping and I knew I had to choose her costume just one more year."

"Your dad always chooses your costumes?" Tony whispered as he hurried over to Natasha. The small girl growled and aimed her elbow for Tony's gut, grinning at the satisfying sound of the air leaving his body.

"I have to say, you always find the cutest things for her." Miss Hill smiled, watching as Natasha sent a threatening look over the downed Tony to the rest of their friends, who all wisely averted their eyes.

"It must be a gift." Fury smiled, kneeling down so he was eye-level with Natasha, squeezing her to his side before fixing the small tiara on her head and following Mr. Coulson and Miss Hill to the kitchen.

Natasha glowered at each and everyone of her friends, daring them to tease her. Wisely, they kept quiet.

Natasha frowned when her eyes landed on Bruce, "I thought you were gonna be Sherlock Holmes."

"I'm Sherlock Holmes." Bruce said, looking down at his attire. A dark coat, a purple Sunday shirt and black slacks. In one hand he still held the corner of his pillow case and waiting for him by the chair was a plastic skull he'd scrawled the name "Skull Friend" on it black marker.

"He's the British one!" Clint explained rather unhelpfully.

"They're all British." Bruce snapped.

"Not all of them!"

"Yeah all of them!"

"Boys!" Tony called over the two, setting a small black gloved hand over their shoulders, "Can we move on? Bruce, who are you?"

Bruce frowned, "I'm Sherlock Holmes."

"Right... Where's the hat?"

"Miss Hill couldn't find it... besides, it's only an ear-hat."

"Sure, whatever." Clint said, rolling his eyes, sidling over to Natasha and handing her the contents of his pocket-half a packet of fruit snacks. She quickly snatched the treat offered and downed them before the others could see, returning to raising her eyebrows questioningly at Bruce until he angrily pounded the tv remote buttons in an effort to prove he was Sherlock Holmes.

From the kitchen Maria Hill smirked as she and the other two watched, saying softly "Clint has to have everything be accurate-he was a little miffed Bruce and I couldn't find the hat."

Nick and Phil shared a grin before there was a loud rapping on the door and the adults were hurrying to open it. On it's other side stood an older man with snow white hair and wearing a tweed jacket that had seen nicer days. Around his legs stood two boys, one dressed in a black robe and wearing spectacles while the other had his blonde hair tied back and wore a suit of chain-mail and a red tunic.

"Odin!" Mr. Coulson grinned, "There you are, we were getting ready to call you."

"I'm sorry, the traffic was horrible." Mr. Odinson (yes, Odin Odinson-the humor was not lost on him) said as he led his sons inside. Thor quickly dumped his overnight bag by the others sitting against the wall and hurried inside to see what his friends were doing. Loki stayed by his father's side, still smarting from Thor's scathing remarks earlier when he'd learned Loki was to join him tonight.

"I called earlier about tonight," Mr. Odinson said, "I'm so sorry to do this on such short notice it's just Frigga and myself were called in for a staff meeting with the other professors and I don't exactly trust Heimdall to be able to watch Loki when he has Fandrall, Hogun, and especially Volstagg to look after as well."

"Oh it's no trouble," Mr. Coulson reassured the professor, "We're glad to have Loki here any day."

Mr. Odinson sighed in relief, "That's wonderful. Now, Thor's not to pleased at the moment so it may take an hour or two for things to calm down between them but I'm sure you wont have any trouble on your hands the whole night."

"Maria and I expected as much, this isn't the first time we've witnessed one of those lovely brotherly tiffs no is it?" Mr. Coulson grinned, taking Loki's overnight bag and setting it next to his brothers before he turned to the small five year old, "Now the others are watching a show in the living room, do you want to join them?"

Loki peeked around the door frame, catching his brother's eye and quickly recoiling when Thor sneered. Loki quietly shook his head, fiddling with his black robes in one hand and twisting a toy wand around in the other. From the kitchen came Miss Hill, who cooed in awe when she saw Loki.

"Isn't he just adorable?!" She cried, scooping the child up and setting him on her hip so she could get a better look, "I just love Harry Potter!"

Loki grinned, adjusting his fake glasses with a small hand, "I've already finished the fourth book."

Maria frowned at Odin, "His reading level is that high?"

"He listens to them on tape." Odin said, looking proud, "Or his mother and I read them to him."

"The third one's my favorite!" Loki declared before wriggling in the woman's arms. Maria quickly set him down and Loki hurried into the living room to sit on the other side of Bruce, far away from his still agitated brother.

"Well if the kids are settled, do you want to come say hi to Nick before you go?" Coulson asked but Odin shook his head.

"I'm already in danger of being late as it is and I still have to fight the roads to get home. Thank you again, Frigga and I greatly appreciate it." And with that he was gone, leaving two rather volatile brothers behind.

Nick Fury had made his goodbye rather quick but heartfelt. Natasha was still annoyed with him for her costume but she didn't let it stop her from hugging him back before he left, although she was quick to scurry away from the door and back to her friends as they got ready to leave. Bruce shut off the television, making Benedict Cumberbatch's face disappear much to the disappointment of a rather interested Tony and Loki.

"We can finish the episode when we get back!" Miss Hill insisted, herding the kids out the door and onto the sidewalk so they could begin trick or treating at long last.

The street was filled with kids and parents alike, most wearing some costume or other; even a number of parents had dressed up in the spirit of things.

"I told you we could have done something." Mr. Coulson said, grinning as Miss Hill scoffed and rolled her eyes, hurrying the kids along. She stayed close to Loki, who milled along in the back, away from his brother. Thor didn't seem to notice as he laughed and messed around with Tony and Bruce, running ahead with them towards the houses Bruce said were better than others in terms of how good of candy they gave out. Several times Coulson had to round up the three and drag them back to the others or simply walk ahead with them. Clint and Natasha seemed perfectly content to stick together, comparing how much candy one had and trying to even out the difference when it became obvious.

"It's because people like girls in cute costumes." Clint lamented when Natasha once again had more candy then him.

"Just shut up and take the Twinkie." Natasha smirked. Behind them Mr. Coulson and Miss Hill were stifling their laughter.

The group slowly worked their way through the neighborhood, stopping by Mr. Fury's house where he surprised the group with full sized candy bars alongside the candy he handed them from the large bowl he used to give it out. He hugged his daughter one last time and they were off, Natasha laughing when they discovered Clint now had more candy then her and a note to be careful from Mr. Fury.

They passed by several people they knew from school, running into one particular group of all girls where Tony had to endure the snickering of his friends as he said a quick hello to Pepper, who, dressed as Catwoman, laughed right along with them as she pretended to fight him for his candy. When she eventually won she stole a mini Hershey's bar and then slipped him some Twinkies as a replacement. As this transpired Jane, or rather Wonder Woman, said a rather awkward hello to Thor while her younger sister Darcy, a Fairy, hugged Loki as her greeting. Loki awkwardly scrambled to hide behind his brother, threatening to curse Darcy if she ever touched him again.

Jane's father, Erik Selvig, cordially greeted Mr. Coulson and Miss Hill, having time to make dinner plans with them next week before he had to hurry his own group along before Darcy could get upset at Loki's reaction to her hug. Jane snickered as they were forced to say goodbye, hugging Thor herself and then running to catch up to Kat and her dad while Pepper winked in Tony's direction and ran off with three more of his candies before he could notice-when he did he surprisingly didn't seem to upset over it.

It seemed like they were nearly finished with the neighborhood till they turned onto one of the last, older streets of the neighborhood.

"Dude check it out!" Clint said, pointing to the house on the corner, an ancient two story house that sat empty and abandoned, "It's the one I was telling you about."

"The Zola house?" Tony asked, looking at the decrepid structure. It certainly looked the part, one of the front windows was busted and the entire place seriously needed a good paint job and some yard work.

"Yep," Mr. Coulson said, staring up at the house, "Someone comes by to cut the grass every now and again but even still, it's sat abandoned like this for decades."

"They say, when the guy who lived in there died, they didn't find him for a month because he was in this hidden room in his attic!" Clint grinned, "He'd kidnapped a girl and killed her in there!"

"No way." Natasha said, "That's stupid."

"You're stupid."

"Well you are too."

"Mr. Zola was an older guy," Mr. Coulson said, "He collapsed while working in his attic one day and no body knew till one of his neighbors noticed he hadn't seen him for a few days."

"It was a month!" Clint argued.

"It was a few days Clint." Bruce said patiently.

"Nu-uh! Mr. Coulson said it was a month when he told us last week!"

"Is that why they were so freaked out all night long?!" Miss Hill exclaimed and Mr. Coulson winced, knowing he was now in trouble.

"Just a little Halloween fun!" He protested but the look on the woman's face said he was by no means out of the woods.

"Anyway," Clint said, reclaiming his friends and Loki's attention, "They say his ghost is still in there and that's why nobody's bought the house!"

"Someone owns it Clint, just he doesn't live in it." Miss Hill corrected, "Now come on guys, time to get a move on otherwise we're gonna run out of houses with candy."

"I wanna go in that house." Tony whispered to Bruce, who rolled his eyes.

"Have fun by yourself then."

"Why? Are you chicken?"

"No, just don't see the point."

"I think it's cause your chicken."

"It's cause he's chicken." Clint agreed, standing on Bruce's other side as they walked.

"Shut up Clint, go back to flirting with Natasha."

"Don't be gross." Natasha snapped, turning to listen. Thor frowned as he turned his head to listen as well, slowing his pace so they could talk quietly.

"Anyway, I wanna go in that house." Tony repeated, and earned an awed sigh from Clint and Thor.

"Oh not you guys too." Bruce groaned, "We really shouldn't-that place is old, something could happen."

"But it sounds fun!" Clint argued.

"And besides, we're not scared like you are." Thor smirked.

"It's not that I'm scared!" Bruce snapped, "I just don't think it's a good idea, and besides when are you gonna do this? Tonight? There's no way Mr. Coulson or Miss Hill will let you."

"That's why we don't tell them." Natasha said and the boys turned to look at her, "We come back on our own don't you see? What they don't know wont hurt them."

"You mean... sneak out?" Clint frowned, looking a bit pale, "But... wont they get mad?"

"Duh." Thor grinned, "I think it's a great idea! Let's do it."

"But... we'll get in trouble." Bruce said weakly.

"So we get grounded for a week or two-it'd be so worth it!" Tony said excitedly. Bruce and Clint shared a worried look but didn't say anything, neither could bring themselves to without the support of the other and since that didn't seem likely anytime soon...

"But when?" Thor asked, frowning.

"Why not tonight?" Tony proposed, "Halloween is the perfect night for something like this."

"But Mr. Coulson-"

"So we come back later-that way we can ditch Loki." Clint said quickly, noticing the five year old had been oddly quiet for the past while, was he listening in?

"Perfect." Thor grinned, clearly growing more and more fond of this insane idea of Tony's. Bruce groaned internally, why couldn't his friends do things that wouldn't get him in trouble?

"Alright," Tony's voice snapped Bruce back to the conversation, "It's decided, when they go to sleep tonight we'll sneak back here. Clint, you and Bruce can lead us back here right?"

"Totally." Clint grinned, but it was a tight, forced grin.

They'd been up and down every street twice in two neighborhoods. They'd seen friends and foes alike, whether it be the friend or foe of their costume or the child themselves (Tony had thrown an apple he'd received at one house at Obidiah's head when he saw him walking around and run like hell back to the safety of Mr. Coulson and Miss Hill). It was a wonder most of the kids could even carry their pillow cases of candy home-in fact Loki couldn't, Mr. Coulson had to help him.

The group had planned that after trick or treating, rather than waiting for parents to pick them up and thus getting to bed later than is probably healthy they'd all sleep in the Hill-Coulson house living room. Sleeping places had been designated with packed away or dragged from upstairs pillows and blankets, Loki's small green bear resting atop his pillow while the child himself had the lightning scar on his head washed away by his brother.

Natasha let Miss Hill pull her dress over her head and was quick to insist the tiara go with it. Then the small girl pulled on black and purple pajama top and bottoms, racing to where her sleeping things were to insure Tony didn't steal her spot (it was close to the kitchen, making fun ideas more of a possibility in the child's mind).

Bruce slowly disassembled his Sherlock costume upstairs in his room, watching himself in the full length mirror mounted to his wall as first the coat was pulled away and then the shirt. His hands paused at the white undershirt he'd tucked into his slacks. He'd been wearing it a few days now and it was probably time to change it but then he'd have to pull it off; have to see his bare chest and back...

Deciding he was fine for the time being, Bruce quickly pulled the slacks off and tossed them into the pile on his bed as he crossed the room and pulled on his pajamas.

Downstairs, everyone was sitting in the living room waiting, surrounded by their bags of candy. Loki jumped up and down on his blankets as Thor searched through his brother's bag and inspected the wrappings of each piece.

"Hurry up!" Loki demanded, clutching the bear tightly to his chest.

"I'm going, I'm going." Thor said impatiently, tossing another piece of candy from the bag into a pile deemed "safe". Every time Loki went for the pile Thor would slap his hand away and return to searching.

"Give it up Loki, he's not gonna be finished till morning." Tony said through a mouthful of Twizzlers.

"Yes I will." Thor said quickly, with a dangerous and pointed look towards Tony, "I'm almost done."

"Don't see why you're bothering. I think it's all fine." Clint said, handing Natasha the left Twix from the package in his hand.

"Well you never know, and besides, rather safe than sorry right?" Thor grumbled, tossing the last handful of sweets from Loki's bag into the pile and tossing the pillow case towards his brother's stuff. Loki gave an excited gasp and dove right into his waiting candy. Thor rolled his eyes as he turned to his own bag, wondering if his brother would eat enough to get sick in the next few minutes.

"Isn't he such a sweet older brother?" Tony cooed to Bruce, who batted his eyes in Thor's direction while nodding.

"He's the best-est eveha!" Bruce giggled.

"Shut up." Thor snapped, tearing the wrapper from a Butter-finger and shoving it in his mouth.

"But Thor!" Tony and Bruce whined, "You are! Look how sweet you are to the little angel!"

"I said shut up."

"Never! We have to tell about how wonderful you are!"

Thor rolled his eyes again, chewing slowly so he'd be sparred talking a little longer. Behind him, Clint made sure his Green Arrow costume was tucked away under his pillow, the bow and arrows hiding under the couch and his boots conveniently forgotten by the door. Natasha, likewise, had watched as Miss Hill hung her dress in the hall closet and with the help of Clint had spirited the laundry room footstool just underneath it.

Bruce half considered just leaving his costume upstairs but knew Tony and the others would make a large fuss until he joined them and so had slipped to get his clothes before Mr. Coulson called lights out and everyone was lying in their made-up sleeping places acting as if they were readying to go to sleep. Really, it seemed only little Loki was actually about to fall asleep when Clint carefully pulled the blankets away from his body and softly padded up the stairs towards the adults room. Everyone else sat up, slowly inching their costumes from their hiding places to pull them on, yet waiting till Clint silently raced back downstairs whispering "Clear!"

Tony grinned, pulling his pajama top off to reveal the black batman shirt he'd been wearing with his costume all along. It was a simple matter to put on his cape and cowl, quickly stripping from his pajama bottoms to the sleek black pants and his boots.

"Where's the Joker?" He asked in a deep (or as deep as you can get at eight years old) and rasping voice, grinning around the room as Bruce pulled his coat over his shoulders and Clint helped Natasha pull her dress over her head.

Thor carefully leaned over his brother, checking to make sure he was truly asleep. This turned out to be a mistake however, as his brother's green eyes snapped open and he frowned curiously up at Thor.

"What are you doing?" He asked, sitting up on his knees.

"Nothing." Thor said quickly, although a quick glance around the room said otherwise, "Lay back down."

"No fair!" Loki hissed, "I wanna play too!"

"We aren't playing!" Thor snapped.

"You never play with me anymore!"

"Because we aren't playing!"

"Then why is everyone dressing up? Where are you going? I wanna come too!"

"Well you can't."

"No fair!" Loki cried, his voice rising. This caused the group behind Thor to look at one another anxiously, realizing Loki presented more of a problem then any of them had really thought about.

"Tough." Thor growled and Loki sucked in a large gulp of breath, holding it there until his cheeks turned red. Thor's eyes widened and he pointed a finger at his brother with a snarl, "Don't you dare! One octave above a whisper and I'll punt you through the front window."

"What's he gonna do?" Natasha asked.

"Scream."

The group shared an anxious look and just as Loki opened his mouth again the unthinkable happened.

"Fine! You can come!"

Everyone turned to stare venomously at Bruce, who shrugged defensively.

"If it keeps him from screaming, why not right?"

Thor groaned, turning his back on his brother, "I'm not helping you with your stuff."

Loki didn't seem to care, as he gave a satisfied giggle and bounced to his feet. His stuff would be simple enough for him to do himself, he'd done it once before.

Natasha secured the tiara to her hair with the bobby pins, turning to Clint and striking a pose. He gave her a simple thumbs up before throwing his hood over his head and tightening the quiver's strap around his chest. Then the two made their way down the hall towards the study room.

A couple years in the system had given Natasha and Clint the prowess they needed to know how to sneak around. It was a great talent the two of them took alot of pride in, and so help anyone who dared question the extent of their abilities-something Mr. Coulson, Miss Hill, and Nick Fury had never done. The three were great parents, and so the two had never felt the need to use these powers against them, but in the interest of not getting rusty the two would often sneak around for simple things-fruit snacks, cookies, private places to play mobile games, or somewhere they could hide because it was fun to outsmart everyone else.

So finding the quietest and sneakiest way out of the house barely let the two break a sweat. It was easy to avoid the creaky floorboards, and with a little direction from the two to the others (Thor begrudgingly carrying Loki), everyone found themselves standing together in the small carpeted study as Natasha and Clint eased the wall-long window open. From there it was a simple hop over the sill and onto the grass outside. Easing the window closed was a bit more of a challenge, but still a simply easy one, and Natasha left it a few inches open with a rock stopping it from closing completely.

Clint and Bruce led the group as they hurried down the street, dashing quickly under the street lamps and taking sanctuary near dark shadows and tall bushes. Wanting to be seen as little as possible, the group was careful to not let themselves linger to long where anyone could see them-and possibly (and very easily) snatch them.

"It's at that next turn right?" Clint hissed to Bruce, who frowned as he considered the streets he was looking at; trying to translate them into the daylight settings he knew by heart. With a moderately high confidence in their decisions, they led the group down street after street until there they were at last: the Zola house.

It was even eerier when there was no one out and it was late at night, the shadows somehow more exaggerated and the sounds of the old house settling louder than the white background noise one was used to. They stood there before it, barely three inches in the drive-way, and took it all in.

Loki gave a small gasp, throwing himself to the safety of his brother's leg and hiding his face in the cold chain-mail.

"What?" Thor snapped.

"There's someone in there!" Loki hissed, pointing to the upstairs window.

"No way." Tony said, looking where Loki had indicated, "The place is abandoned remember?"

"I saw someone looking at me!" Loki insisted, "It was a kid!"

"No way," Tony repeated, "There's no one who'd be out late."

"We're out here." Bruce pointed out.

"Yeah but..."

"There's only one way to settle this." Thor said, turning to his brother, "Go inside and check it out Loki."

"What?!" Both the terrified little boy and half the group cried, watching Thor's for signs of delirium or insanity. He instead appeared completely serious and proceeded to pry Loki's vice grip from his red knight's tunic and gave him a small push further up the driveway. The others watched silently, wondering if they should say something or let things proceed as they were. Loki begged Thor to stop but the older brother wasn't having any of it. He gave a second small push and stepped back to the safety of the sidewalk.

"Come on Loki, are you scared?" Thor grinned, ignoring the small whimper that emitted from his brother's throat and chuckling to egg him on faster. Loki looked between his brother's friends and the house, trying to decide which would be worse and ultimately deciding his brother's scorn was something he could do without... even if he had to go in there to avoid it...

With a small gulp the poor boy edged closer and closer to the front steps, a sense of dread overwhelming him as the creaks of the house and the silence of the darkness became more and more intimidating. The shadows became more threatening, promising to swallow the little boy whole should he wander to close. The front step moaned under his weight and he squeaked, preparing to flail if the wood porch broke underneath him. He swore he heard whispers and witch cackles, maybe a monster groaning or two and the door handle was ice cold under his touch.

But the door had to be locked right? That what almost everyone was reasoning as they watched Loki twist the door handle, it would be locked and he'd come back having at least tried to please his big brother.

But then of course, for some odd reason, it wasn't.

And Loki was allowed inside.

He was swallowed by the front doorway, letting it swing closed behind him. The others stood there for a moment or two, wondering how long they should wait till going in after him or possibly running home to safety. Thor frowned, for the first time wondering if this was a good idea after all. They heard no high-pitched screams, no begs for help, and no ominous movie villain cackles like the monster had snatched the five year old away.

Inside, Loki stood against the front door, whimpering and willing himself to move forward. He was sure he'd seen someone in the upstairs window minutes ago and any second now they'd tear down the stairs and get him! At the very least he'd be in trouble somehow and at the very most he'd probably get hurt somehow and Thor wasn't coming to save him because he was mad Loki had made him come and now he was on his own in this big scary house and...

A figure appeared at the end of the hall.

Loki cried out, darting away from the door and further into the house. He turned right and ran through a doorway, into the living room where all the furniture was covered in dusty sheets waiting to be moved to a new home someday. Loki didn't watch where he was running and he ended up tripping over the fireplace, which was raised a foot from the rest of the floor by bricks. His foot caught on it's edge and he fell forward, body flopping across the front edge of the bricks. He gave a small cry, rubbing his forehead where he'd hit it, and began to crawl across the floor. He heard footsteps approaching and he only barely remembered he couldn't cry from the pain of falling yet. He couldn't let himself be found so easily, Thor would make fun of him.

He watched as a small pair of dusty boots entered the living room, standing there a moment or two before venturing further. Loki's knee really hurt and he made a small noise he hoped this person couldn't hear as he accidentally bumped it against the floor.

The boots paused, then it was a straight beeline for the table Loki hid under, ripping the sheet covering it up and a set of bent knees appeared before it was followed by a small, pale, grinning face.

Loki screamed.

Something Thor never wanted to hear again. The high-pitched cry sent him running, teasing and petty revenge be damned. He shoved Tony, who'd made the mistake of wandering just a little into his path as they waited, and tore up the drive way, leaping up the steps and throwing the front door open.

"Loki!" Thor screamed, looking around for an attacker in a black trench coat or maybe his little brother in a corner. Seeing neither he ran further into the house, barreling into the living room and towards a kid dressed in all dark green camo and was far to big to be the little five year old.

"What did you do?" He snarled, tackling the kid to the floor, taking one of the chairs near the wall with him.

"What?!" The kid cried angrily, fighting to escape Thor's hold, "What the hell are you talking about?!"

"Where's Loki?" Thor yelled, using his knees to pin the kid's stomach to the floorboards. The kid cried out and threw his head forward, long brown hair whipping Thor's cheek. Their foreheads connected and Thor snarled, bring his hands up to put pressure on the wound and the kid took his chance at freedom, sitting up and pinning Thor to the ground instead.

"Get off him!" Tony cried from the doorway, where the others had gathered in shock watching the fight. The first to recover, the masked child ran to his friend's aid, pulling at this strange newcomer's arm and making him scream. Tony jumped back and Thor paused as the kid doubled over, clutching his arm and muttering colorful curses under his breath. From the other doorway, probably leading to the kitchen, another kid dressed in all green camo appeared.

"Bucky!" This other kid cried, running to the small tangle of Thor and... Bucky?

"Bucky are you okay?" The kid asked, hovering over his friend, afraid to touch him and cause him more pain.

"I'm perfectly fine..." Bucky snarled, "Fine and dandy..."

"Bucky!"

"I'm fine..." The first kid sighed, turning to Thor and Tony, "Who the hell are you guys? What are you doing here?"

"Looking for my brother!" Thor snarled, throwing Bucky off him and onto his bad arm. This caused the kid to cry out again and his friend to hover while worrying and asking if he was okay all over again.

"Do you need a doctor or something?" Clint asked, frowning as he watched the kid slowly recover.

"I'm fine." Bucky insisted, turning to Thor while still wincing, "Who's your brother? We haven't seen anyone else in here all night."

"I did." The blonde kid said from beside Bucky, "He ran in here and crawled under the table. He screamed when he saw me."

"That's 'cause there's not supposed to be anyone in here," Thor said acidly, "Where'd he go?"

"He ran into the study, he wont come out from under the desk in there."

Without another word Thor ran off in that direction, Bruce and Tony following while Clint and Natasha watched these two kids on the floor.

"Do you need ice?" The blonde boy asked.

"Where are we gonna get ice huh?" Bucky snapped, stretching his left arm and wincing.

"What happened?" Clint asked.

"I fell while we were exploring." Bucky said quickly, rubbing his bicep.

"No!" His friend argued, "You... you... you did something else..." He frowned, "What did you do?"

"I fell. Stop being stupid."

"Stop being a jerk!"

The two proceeded to throw insults at each other speedily, voices rising in volume so everyone on the first floor could hear it. Bruce rolled his eyes as Tony grinned, clearly enjoying what he heard. Thor smirked as Bucky's next few insults included a creative and colorful combination of slurs and Tony muttered he'd have to remember those.

The rest of the first floor seemed to be as dirty and neglected as the rest of the first floor. Dust covered everything in a thick carpet, and the walls needed a fresh coat of paint or new wallpaper. Everything creaked and groaned, threatening the kids with collapsed ceilings and floors. Sheets covered most of the furniture, aged and yellowed and dust covered like everything else.

The study sat squeezed between the staircase and the dining room, the door closed tight. Thor glanced at his followers before easing the door open, leaning against the wood to bar them slipping past. Quickly he shut it behind him much to Tony and Bruce's dislike.

"Come on man!"

"What're you doing?"

"Go see if that Bucky kid needs help." Thor said, turning to look at the room around him. Like the rest of the first floor sheets lay everywhere across the furniture, giving only the basic shapes of what lay underneath. There was a small shuffling heard from the desk, and so Thor slowly began to approach that.

"Loki?" Thor whispered and suddenly the shuffling under the sheet covered desk stopped all together.

"Loki I'm sorry okay? There were kids in here." Thor said but there was no response, "Loki?"

A whimper sounded from under the desk.

"Loki, look you don't have to be scared anymore okay? We can go back to Bruce and Clint's house if you want and I wont be mad." Thor had nearly reached the desk, was standing less than a foot from it, and his brother was still deathly quiet. His brother had always been good at being quiet, able to sneak around the house and avoid either Thor or their father when he was in a bad mood. He loved being able to pop up anywhere and surprise the people in the room. Thor wasn't concerned that his brother was trying to be quiet, he was concerned because Loki continued to whimper, and he refused to come to Thor like he'd always done when he got hurt or scared. This was out of character for the little boy and it made Thor regret his earlier actions all the more.

"Loki?" Thor whispered, kneeling down behind the desk, "I'm gonna lift the sheet now okay?"

He'd just gripped the edge of the white dusty cloth when there was a rapping at the door.

"Thor!" Tony called, "Loki's not in there! He was in the dining room!"

Thor frowned, pulling the sheet from the desk.

There was no one there.

Feeling something rise in his throat, Thor quickly stood using shaky knees and wobbling legs. He turned around as fast as he could and swore he saw a form in the corner but was to busy running for the door to bother checking. He couldn't get out fast enough and when he was, he ran into the wall opposite before collapsing against it and panting in panic.

"Thor?" Loki frowned, leaving Bruce's side to come to Thor's. Thor stared at his brother as if he were a stranger before crushing the boy to his chest and attempted to control his breathing.

"Dude, are you okay?" Tony asked.

"F-fine... fine." Thor said, using Loki to stand himself up, "Totally fine, why wouldn't I be fine? Don't I look... fine?"

There was a pause.

"You look great." Bruce remarked, stone faced.

"Are you scared?" Loki asked, watching Thor with wide, wondering eyes.

"Of course he's scared. It's a damn haunted house." the long haired boy, Bucky said as he, his friend, Clint, and Natasha walked into the hall, "Aren't I right?"

"No," Tony said, crossing his arms, "It was your ugly mug we saw in the window and it was your friend here who scared Loki."

"That's not who I saw."

The room turned to stare at Loki.

"What?" Tony asked harshly, causing Loki to step back and nearly fall into Thor's lap.

"He's not who I saw." Loki repeated, pointing at Bucky.

"Then you saw goldie locks over here?" Tony snapped, pointing at the blonde boy, who frowned.

"No."

"Then who?"

"A girl."

"A girl?" Thor repeated.

"Yeah. She was creepy." Loki said, not moving from Thor's side and in fact tightening his grip on his brother's shoulder.

"Maybe she snuck in here like us." The blonde boy said.

"Maybe she lives here." Bucky snickered.

"Maybe she's a ghost." Tony offered, looking excited.

"I doubt she's a ghost." Bruce argued tiredly.

"And why is that?" Tony snapped flippantly.

"Because there are no ghost stories for this house. Mr. Coulson would have told us."

"He could not know about them."

"Mr. Coulson always knows."

Tony rolled his eyes, "Alright, then let's go find her."

"Fine."

"Where do we look?" The blonde boy asked.

"Upstairs, duh." Bucky rolled his eyes, causing his friend to stick his tongue out at him.

"Alright, first one up there's a rotten egg!" Clint cried, grabbing Natasha's hand and running upstairs. Everyone else was quick to follow, with Thor grabbing Loki by the upper arm and dragging him so the little boy was forced to stay with him, though he could barely keep up.

Upstairs was just like the rest of the house, and possibly even darker. Two bedrooms to their left and one to their right, the eight kids split into two groups of three and one of two, Clint and Natasha boldly marching towards the bedroom on the right. That left Bruce, Thor, and Loki to take the bedroom closest to the stairs and Tony, Bucky, and the blonde haired boy to take the one beside it.

"Wow," The boy said as he began to cough, "This place is a mess!"

The furniture was still inside, waiting for a future where it could all be put to use.

"Do you see anyone?" Tony asked, lifting up the sheet covering a bed hesitantly, finding no one underneath.

"Nope." The blonde boy said, "Bucky?"

"No." The other boy said from the closet.

"So what's your guyses deal?" Tony asked as they finished checking the room and made their way to the one next door.

"What do you mean?" The blonde boy asked, his voice announcing their entrance to Bruce, Thor, and Loki.

"Why are you guys here?"

"Well, why are you here?"

"We... were... I dunno... Hey, Bruce, why are we here?" Tony frowned, turning to his friend.

Bruce rolled his eyes in exasperation, "Why are you asking me? It was your stupid idea-I didn't want to come remember?"

"No."

"Of course you don't." Bruce sighed, turning to look through the empty dresser one more time.

"There doesn't seem to be anyone in here." Thor said, adjusting Loki who he'd picked up onto his back.

"Let's go see if Clint and Natasha have found anything then." Bruce decided, corralling everyone into making their way out the door.

"So back to the question, what are you guys doing here? In fact who are you, we've never seen you at school before." Tony said, glancing back at his friends to see if he was wrong.

"I'm Steve." The blonde boy smiled, puffing out his camo covered chest, "And this is Bucky."

Bucky rolled his eyes, rubbing his sore arm and wincing as he stretched it out.

"We're from the apartment complexes across town but all our friends usually trick or treat here so we do too; with our friend Peggy." Steve continued, turning to Bucky, "Where is she anyway?"

"Stayed home." Bucky snapped quickly as they walked into the bedroom, "Hey look, nothing in this one either."

Bruce looked around, seeing Clint and Natasha no where to be found.

"And where are Clint and Nat?"

"Bathroom." Clint called, causing the older boys to gag as Natasha popped up from behind the bed.

"I'm right here." She said, scaring everyone.

"Thanks alot jerk!" Bucky snapped, causing Natasha to frown.

"Dude. Don't." Tony said, "It's not worth it!"

"What?" Steve asked.

"You don't like her when she's angry." Bruce said quickly, edging to stand against the wall. Natasha took three steps from around the bed, edging closer to Bucky who watched skeptically. She stared him up and down slowly before turning to walk out the door and towards where Clint was waiting for her in the hall.

"I'm so scared." Bucky snickered as the others watched her go, waiting for an eventual blow up that never came.

"Wait for it." Natasha promised before turning to her friends, "So we've searched the whole floor and there's no one here. What now?"

"Maybe it is a ghost." Tony proposed again.

"I doubt it." Bruce and Clint said together but it seemed they were ignored in favor of Steve's excited hopping in place.

"Maybe she's hiding from us." He said, "If we ignore her she might come out."

"Genius thinking there goldie, really, what would your friend here do without you?" Tony grinned sarcastically.

"No, that makes sense." Natasha said, "Ghosts don't like strangers, so of course she'd hide from us. Maybe if we do ignore her she'll come out and wont be afraid of us."

"Are you saying this is a case of 'Their more scared of you then you are of them'?" Clint asked.

"Probably."

"Cool..."

"So what do we do then?" Tony asked, "It's not like we can just stand here-that's boring."

"And tiring." Thor said as Loki yawned from his back.

"We could play a game." Bruce proposed, also eager for something to do.

"Like?" Tony asked.

"Hide and seek?" Steve proposed, grinning wide.

"You always wanna play that." Bucky complained.

"Because it's fun!" Steve cried, hopping up and down again in excitement.

"But... it's creepy in here." Loki muttered lowly, afraid he'd be teased for being a baby.

"Then let's hide in duo's." Bruce said quickly, before Tony could open his mouth to say something sarcastic, "That way it's less scary okay?"

"Okay!" Steve and Loki grinned, Loki wriggling from Thor's back so he could prepare himself to race to a hiding spot-this was his favorite game too.

"Alright, Natasha and I are a group!" Clint declared, grabbing Natasha's hand and hoisting it in the air.

"As are Loki and I." Thor said, causing Loki to beam brightly up at his big brother.

"I'm not with Steve." Bucky declared, causing Steve to frown, "I'm always with you, I wanna do something different." With that he marched over and stood beside Bruce, "And he seems less annoying then his friend."

"His friend is named Tony." Tony snapped, looking miffed he'd been separated from his best friend while Bruce just looked a tad confused as to what had just taken place before him.

"Then I guess it's Tony and I?" Steve asked hopefully.

"Fine." Tony sighed, marching over to stand beside the blonde boy in camo.

"Alright, who's it?" Clint asked.

Tony and Bruce shared a grin, taking the opportunity to scream, "Noes goes!" and mash their index fingers to the middle of their faces. Steve and Bucky were quick to follow suit while Clint slapped a hand to his face as quick as he and Natasha could. Only Loki seemed to not pick up on the game and had barely touched the tip of his own nose when he and Thor were declared "It". Thor gave Loki an aggravated glare but nothing more as he pulled the little boy to the wall and began to count while covering Loki's eyes.

"One... two... three..."

"Hurry!" Steve hissed, pulling Tony down the stairs as the other groups scattered.

Bruce wasn't exactly sure how it happened, but somehow he found himself mashed into the upstairs hall closet. He sat on the dusty, dirty floor while Bucky sat by the door, using his fingers to keep it just barely cracked so he could watch as Thor and Loki finished counting and began to walk around. He didn't relax until he watched them disappear down the stairs and then he sighed, reclining against the wall.

"So," Bruce began to whisper, "We have a good while-Loki will insist checking everything twice downstairs before they're back up here."

He went unacknowledged by his hiding partner.

"So... my name's Bruce." The boy continued, holding out his hand for a handshake but was again ignored.

"Did you guys walk here?" Bruce tried again but there was still nothing.

"Look it's gonna be awhile and unless you talk to me I'm gonna fall asleep-and I snore, loudly." Bruce snapped softly.

"Fine." Bucky snapped, "What do you wanna talk about."

"Well I already asked you, did you and Steve walk here?"

"No. We were staying with our friend Peggy." Bucky said, voice filled with acid.

"Everyone's staying at Clint and I's house too, we had to lead them here even though neither of us wanted to come." Bruce said and Bucky took so long to answer he'd just begun to wonder whether Bucky was ignoring him again or if he'd fallen asleep.

"So are you two a bunch of babies or something?" Bucky said wickedly, "Seems like it if you can't handle coming to an old house."

"That's not why." Bruce said, about to explain himself when Bucky cut in.

"So you didn't want to get in trouble," He laughed, "Wow, pathetic."

"It's not pathetic-"

"It is too. Where's your sense of danger? Of adventure? You content to live your life like a loser or what?"

Bruce was beginning to regret trying to talk to this guy.

"Look if you don't wanna talk you could have just said so."

"Oh no I couldn't, cause you're threatening to reveal us if I let you fall asleep. I already have to look after one idiot, don't give me your responsibilities too." Bucky said, "And since we're talking, you didn't answer my question. Are you a 'fraidy cat or what, huh? Why are you even here if you didn't want to come so bad?"

"Alright, never mind." Bruce said lowly, drawing his knees to his chest.

"Come on, answer the question."

"No."

"Baby." Bucky smirked.

Across the hall, in the bathroom, Tony reclined against the shower wall before quickly sitting forward when he remembered the place probably hadn't been cleaned in a good while.

Sitting on the tank of the toilet, Steve bent over to give a rather hacking cough. Hard enough that his torso shook and he grimaced when he finished, his throat undoubtedly on fire.

"Well that sounded painful," Tony said and was met with a weak grin.

"Yeah... Dust doesn't agree with me."

"Should we move or-"

"Nah," Steve says, waving a pale hand, "Nothing really agrees with me. I'm used to it though, don't worry."

Tony grins, "Tough guy huh?"

Steve puffs out his chest, showing off the camo pattern of his shirt, a pair of silver dog tags shining in the small sliver of light that's managed to sneak it's way past the cracked door. It's only now that Tony notices the belt covered in pockets and the combat boots that all make him look like a soldier.

"That's what I'm here for!" Steve says, grinning wide, giving Tony a salute, "Private Rogers at your service!"

"Wow," Tony says, grinning, "I haven't seen any soldier costumes in a while."

"Really?" Steve frowned, "I saw a ton while I was trick or treating tonight."

"Well it seems we were in different areas anyway, maybe they all just congregate together?" Tony grinned, "Some sort of unconscious group mentality? That'd be weird..."

Steve chuckled, "Yeah... We're all ready for battle and we're all right there. All that's left is to fight the enemy!"

"Gotta say, your costume's pretty good for being homemade. Did your mom make it?"

"I helped." Steve said, holding up the pair of dog tags, "We spent all day and night on these last week." At Tony's outstretched hand Steve carefully lifted them from around his neck and tossed the chain to the boy. Tony squinted in the poor light, using his fingers to feel the crude indentations.

Rogers

Steve, G.

107th Infantry Regiment

Protestant

"107th?" Tony asked, getting up to hand the tags back to Steve and at the same time stretch his legs.

"It's the division my dad's assigned to." Steve says, causing an awkward pause in the conversation.

"Ah." Is all Tony can think to say.

"Yeah," Steve says, "We know he's gonna be okay-we pray for him every night and everything-but we're still worried," He fingered the silver tags gingerly between his fingers, "I plan to wear these after Halloween actually-just 'cause it makes it feel like we're together."

"So... dressing up as a soldier wasn't Bucky's idea?" Tony said.

"Nah, it was mine-I begged him to do it actually, he wanted to just run around and prank the neighbors. But... I wanted to be just like my dad tonight and I needed someone to dress up with me." Steve said, scratching at the back of his neck awkwardly.

"That sounds like something I'd do." Tony nodded, "Except it wouldn't be for my dad, probably for my mom or our butler Jarvis."

"You have a butler?" Steve asked in awe.

"Yeah," Tony shrugged, fighting the urge to grin even wider than he already was, "He's worked for my dad for forever-he's basically family."

"Family that cleans up after the rest of the family."

"But still family." Tony said.

Steve sat back against the wall, giving a tired sigh, "That must be nice, I think my mom would like someone that could help her with the cleaning-there's not much but still. And I know she'd feel bad that no one else had help so the whole building would probably end up sharing a butler..."

Tony snickered, imagining Jarvis trying to clean an entire apartment building and probably cursing the Stark's for letting it happen.

"Mrs. Lawrence would be hell to clean for though-I think she'd have to have her own private butler just because no one should be forced to do that and the rest of the building too." Steve continued, "Then again the others might get jealous-"

"I think you're overthinking this a little Stars and Stripes." Tony said, making Steve frown.

"Stars and Stripes?"

"Nevermind."

Steve was about to ask Tony to elaborate but at that moment the bathroom door swung completely open and in hopped an excited five year old admonishing them for talking so much and so loud, followed by his snickering older brother who then ordered Steve and Tony to help them look for the others.

Unsurprisingly, it had been Clint and Natasha who won the game. It had taken longer than anyone else to find them and when they did, it was in the first floor closet on the top shelves. Dust now caked their costumes but it didn't seem they cared to much, giving themselves a quick pat-down and a small full-body shake to rid themselves of the first two layers of dust they'd acquired.

"So I guess Natasha and Clint are it?" Steve asked, looking hopeful that they'd play another round.

"Sure," Tony shrugged, "I'm game."

"Me too!" Loki squeaked from his brother's shoulders.

"Alright." Bruce said, trying his hardest to not look at Bucky, hoping he wasn't giving the eight year old any sort of glare.

"Well then," Clint said, taking a deep gulp of air, "Ten... nine... eight..."

There was a mad dash as the kids tore off in different directions and then Natasha and Clint, holding hands in the darkness, each cracked an eye open and grinned at each other before continuing to count.

Upstairs, Bruce and Bucky looked wildly for a place to hide before Bucky's eyes landed on a door in the ceiling with it's chord hanging just within reach.

"Up there!" He instructed with a hiss to Bruce, who nodded and followed the boy upstairs to the attic.

Layers of dust covered countless objects crammed into the small space, the two windows built into the slanting ceiling illuminating tall structures of boxes and furniture covered in sheets that were precariously placed, a small path carved into the piles of stuff just wide enough for Bruce and Bucky to just barely slither through.

"Wow, so this is where most of that Zola guy's stuff must have gone." Bruce muttered, not expecting Bucky to bother with much conversation. As the two looked for places to hide Bruce watched his partner disappear behind a tower of cardboard boxes. Deciding he'd prefer the excuse of not being able to talk to Bucky this time around because they were in different places, Bruce turned from the tower and continued to search, taking care to avoid as many creaky floorboards as possible.

Reaching the back of the attic, Bruce found himself finding the back wall with his face and far closer than it should be. Peeling his cheek from the scratchy wood, Bruce squinted in the dim light to see the name of a lumber company printed upside down in red letters across the wall. And a foot or so away, behind a pile of boxes and chairs, was what looked to be the side of a doorway.

There was a room up here. A secret room?

"Hey," Bruce called softly so his voice wouldn't carry through the attic door to their friends below, "What's this door?"

There was a long stretch of silence, and Bruce was about to snap that Bucky didn't have to ignore him for everything when the kid shuffled out from his hiding place and came to get a closer look. He frowned, looking at the wall as Bruce had, then his attention wandered to the blocked doorway.

"Help me move these." He ordered, using his good arm to pull at the mess. Bruce pulled as hard as he could, making most of the chairs slide forwards and the boxes threaten to topple over in a great crash.

"Careful." Bucky barked, causing Bruce to roll his eyes.

"Don't you think I know that?" He snaps.

I don't like this kid very much, he decided.

The stacks and piles of boxes and chairs came away easily the more they pulled, allowing Bruce to slip behind the towers of stuff and run his hand down what they could only suppose was a door for a handle. All he found was a small cut into the wood where one could slip their fingers through-and they'd have to be small fingers.

"There's a hole here," He muttered, bending down to look through with his eyes.

There was a room no bigger than maybe a small hall closet, with a small circular window near the top of the wall that let in the faintest amount of light through the dirty glass. Bruce strained to see as much as he could through the opening and what he saw made his stomach twist in an achingly familiar and terrified way.

The room, what one could see of it at least, was small enough for a small child to be comfortable sitting down in but anyone else would be cramped and uncomfortable. There was a bucket in the far corner, and a pile of blankets in the other. Bruce swore he spied a plate near the bottom of what he could see and he turned away as quick as he could with a groan.

"What do you see?" Bucky asked impatiently.

"A room... someone's been living in there!" Bruce said, swallowing. Cramped living spaces... locked doors... scary houses... He didn't like it. He didn't like any of it. It was a bad place... he was gonna get hurt.

"No way! Let me see!" Bucky says, sounding excited but suddenly there's a sound coming from the room and Bruce feels he has to look.

Inside the room, crouched in the dim circle of light on the floor, sits a small figure. It's a girl curled into a ball, her dress ripped and dirty and her hair matted. She whimpers, twitching and flinching at every sound and it makes Bruce's stomach churn. He squeezes his eyes shut, taking deep breaths, and swallows the rising bile in his throat before opening them.

To see the girl crouched on her side of the door, staring at him with a deadened red eye through the hole.

"Find me..."

Bruce screams and falls back, scrambling backwards on his hands and feet until he hits another tower of boxes and sends them crashing. The sound is deafening and the objects pummeling him hurt, and he just wants to understand what the hell just happened and... and...

He doesn't like these games anymore. He doesn't like being here anymore. He wants to go home. Somewhere safe...

There's a heavy silence that fills the room after the last box finishes crashing to the ground. Bucky stands there in shock and Bruce can't find it in himself to move an inch, not to uncurl from his position, not to remove his hands from his head and neck; he can't stop breathing hard and choking on all the dust. There's heavy footfalls coming from downstairs, the sound of countless feet running towards him-rushing towards him.

"What happened?" Tony cries, the first to stick his head through the hole in the floor and pull himself into the attic, "Are you guys okay? Bruce!"

"We were fine..." Bucky says as Steve rushes to his side, looking his best friend over for injuries, "He just screamed and fell back when he saw something in there."

Tony looks up from where he is on the floor beside Bruce, among the wreckage of storage boxes and their contents, "In where? This is the attic-one room."

"Nope," Bucky said, shaking his head and jerking a thumb behind him, "There's something in there. Or at least, Bruce says so."

Clint and Natasha share a curious look, then hurry to push each other out of the way while at the same time not fall on anything as Thor sets Loki down behind him and approaches the plywood wall.

"If there's something in there, it can't possibly take on all of us." He reasons, beginning to kick the wall. Decades of saw and regular dust rain down on the kids, Loki giving a surprised squeak and Steve bending over to hack violently until Bucky manages to shove him out of the way. Tony covers himself and a still frozen Bruce with his Batman cape, coughing as the dust enters his lungs.

But eventually, after much effort from not only Thor, but Clint, Natasha and Bucky as well, the wood breaks in half and it's easy to kick it the rest of the way until all that's left is a broken hole in the plywood big enough for Loki to easily slip through. But the little boy does the exact opposite, he hides behind a stack of boxes and whimpers as his big brother peers through to see...

nothing. Just dust.

"Whatever was in here... it's gone now." Thor says, turning to look at a very quiet and still Bruce. Tony frowns, nudging his best friend but still he doesn't move.

"Bruce?" He whispers.

"Go away." Bruce whispers back coldly.

"What happened exactly?" Steve whispers to Bucky, who shrugs.

"We were looking for a hiding place and he ran into the wall here." He uses his good arm to gesture to what's left of the sheets of plywood, "We saw a door and moved a bunch of stuff so we could get in but couldn't find a handle or anything-just a hole in the wall."

"Did you look through it?"

"No, I didn't get the chance."

"So you're saying Bruce got scared by some dust? I doubt it. Something had to be in there." Clint insists, turning to hole and peering through, "Maybe this place is haunted."

"So the ghost isn't afraid of us anymore?" Steve asks and they heard Loki whimper loudly behind them.

"That or it's slowly warming up to us." Natasha shrugged as Thor cooed gently while picking his way through the people and mess to stand beside his brother.

"Shh, it's fine." Thor whispered, hugging Loki to his chest, ignoring the others.

"So what should we do?" Clint asked, looking apprehensive.

"Well... leaving could make her mad..." Bucky said, biting his lip.

"And she hasn't attacked us, Bruce fell on his own." Steve added quickly, with a glance to Bruce who had at least looked up at the rest of them and was now fixing the blonde boy with a dark glare.

"I think it's safe to say we'll be fine." Bucky concluded, "And leaving right now might now be a good idea, if we make her mad then something could happen."

"So we're supposed to let her scare us?" Tony scoffed.

"No... not scare us... but we should stay a little longer just so she doesn't think it was her fault we left." Bucky said, looking to Steve, "I'm not ready to go, are you?"

"No." Steve shook his head.

"That's great," Tony snapped, "But Bruce has already nearly gotten himself killed and Loki's about to wet his pants. I think we should go before Mr. Coulson and Miss Hill notice we're gone."

Without a word, Bruce stood and shook himself of the wood and regular dust caught in his hair.

"Bruce?" Clint frowned, only to receive a dark glare from the child opposite him. Bruce shrugged off Tony's cape, starting to walk towards the attic door when he was stopped by Thor.

"Bruce?" He tries, looking between Banner and the others, "Are you alright."

"I'm fine." Bruce snaps, yanking his arm from Thor's and descending the attic stairs, "I'll be waiting for the next round when you guys are ready." And like that he's gone, a switch seemingly flipped because he doesn't have the same air about him as he once did, the cheerful welcoming vibe is no where to be found. In it's place is a deep sense of danger, of a waiting storm to hit should some press the wrong button.

"What's with him?" Bucky frowned.

"He's fine." Clint said hurriedly, "Just gets like that sometimes... Let's just go..."

"Whatever."

"Bucky come on." Steve groaned, but was ignored. They all congregated once again in the upstairs hallway, deciding the attic would be off limits for now and shutting the door.

"I wanna switch partners!" Natasha announced before anything could be decided. She hopped over to Bruce's side and grinned widely, "Sorry Bucky."

"Whatever." Bucky shrugged, crossing his arms and trying not to look even the tiniest bit jealous. Bruce remained silent, the dark glower ever present on his face.

"So I guess, Clint and Bucky are it then?" Tony suggested, "The rest of us will go hide."

"Alright." Steve nodded and it was followed by Thor and Loki's nods of approval. With barely enough time to blink, Clint and Bucky are counting and everyones scurrying away to find new hiding places; Natasha dragging Bruce away and grinning wide as a sort of counter to his dark and silent expression.

Steve has Tony by the wrist and scurrying downstairs, looking excited.

"I've been saving this spot," He says, racing towards the kitchen, "And since Bucky is it this is the perfect time to use it."

He opens the door to the basement wide, ushering Tony in and down the stairs as fast as he possibly can. It's so dark down there Tony nearly trips as he makes it down the last few steps-one step is warped and sounding on the verge of snapping under the slightest weight. Steve gives him a small push to the back and Tony is reluctantly pushed farther in.

"Isn't there a lightswitch or something?" He whines in the darkness, "We're gonna end up hurting ourselves at-ACK!" He's run into something hard and cold, made of metal he thinks.

"Oh sorry! Sorry!" Steve says, "Let me find the light switch." After a long period of the sounds of shuffling and a few muttered light curses after Steve presumably ran into something, a small chain is yanked and Steve's standing there beneath it grinning wide.

"Sorry about that," He says, "I just wanted to get down here quickly. Bucky hates the basement so it'll be awhile before he thinks to look here."

Tony smirked, "Afraid of the monster in the basement?"

Steve shrugged, "I dunno, he used to be okay with them before-there's a basement in our apartment building we'd go into all the time. But lately, he's been really freaked out by them, always telling me not to go near them and stuff. I have no idea what brought it on though, and I don't think he's interested in telling me."

"Well that sucks."

Steve sat down on what looked to be a workbench, old and layered with dust like everything else in the house. He stared at his feet for a bit, swinging them back and forth like a much younger child before he looked up at Tony, a rather hesitant yet curious puppy dog look on his face.

"So... do you mind if I ask what the deal is with your friend? Why'd he go all quiet? Is he embarrassed?"

"Ah..." Tony bit his lip, reaching up to scratch his neck awkwardly, "No... he's just in one of those 'moods', you know?"

When it appeared Steve didn't, Tony sighed and sat down next to him on the workbench.

"Don't tell him I told you this okay? He'd kill me." Tony starts, looking at the baseboards ahead of him, "But he's only lived with his family for two years-before that... I dunno. But it was bad. Anyway, when he first showed up he wouldn't talk to anyone and he was sorta mean. But eventually he sorta just... changed. Like the person we met just went away and the normal Bruce was left in his place. He doesn't really talk about it, but sometimes when he stays over I hear him mutter things in his sleep and stuff. It's kinda scary actually, because whenever he gets like that he doesn't seem to remember whatever it was he did."

Steve is quiet, eyebrows rising and throat swallowing as he absorbs the information.

"Like this one time, this was last year around Halloween," Tony continued, "This kid named Blonsky started a fight with him. And it wasn't just a regular shouting fight, he hit Bruce... alot."

Steve winced, he knew what it was like to be picked on-it was one of the reasons he was glad he had nice friends like Bucky and Peggy.

"Anyway, before a teacher or anybody could stop them, Bruce just kinda snapped and fought back. And it was crazy! He was like some kind of animal and he managed to knock a few of this Blonsky kid's teeth out just by punching him!" Tony looked to both be in awe and terror at the memory, "And when they finally pulled Bruce off him, Blonsky was crying and screaming and claiming Bruce had attacked him! And he would have gotten away with it too, if Natasha and Clint hadn't been watching the whole time."

"Why didn't they bother to help?" Steve frowned.

"They said they were about to, but then Bruce started hitting back. And no one really likes Blonsky anyway so they were willing to see how far Bruce could go before a teacher stopped them."

"Ah... that's sorta... cool. I guess." Steve said.

"Yeah," Tony grinned before growing serious again, "But anyway, afterwards when we tried to talk to Bruce about it he said he didn't know what we were talking about. It made me really mad because I actually saw the end of the fight and I knew he was lying."

"Have you tried talking to him about it again? Maybe he was just scared he'd get in trouble again."

"Oh he got in trouble the first time-he was almost expelled but somehow that didn't happen. No, it's happened every time he's just snapped like that. He goes all quiet and angry, and the simplest thing will set him off if we're not careful."

"Shouldn't you take him home then?" Steve frowned.

"Yeah, but you guys said it'd be a bad idea. And besides, he might think we're leaving because of him-which we are-and that'd make him all embarrassed, and therefore mad."

"You say this doesn't happen often, and yet you seem to know what you're doing." Steve noted.

"Well... Thor gets mad easily too, so we kinda had some practice I guess." Tony grinned, turning to look at Steve and his eye catching on something else, "What's that?"

"What's what?" Steve asks, turning to look where Tony has pointed.

There's a door behind boxes of stuff. And it's surrounding walls are made of simple sheets of plywood. Where it's handle should be, there's a large and jagged hole, like someone tried to punch their way through.

Tony gets up, making his way to the door with a wide excited grin. Steve, however, goes a bit pale as he frowns.

"Wow... looks like someone already tried to get at this door." Tony said, fingers brushing the jagged edges of the hole. He turned to look at Steve and frowned when he saw how not excited the boy was, "What's wrong?"

"I don't think we should go over there." Steve whispered, edging to the far side of the bench, away from the door.

"Oh come on, are you scared of a little girl?" Tony teased but frowned when Steve did not look any way less afraid he sighed and walked over to where he sat, "Seriously? I thought you wanted to come down here."

"I did... but seeing that door... I think I get why Bucky kept saying not to go down here." Steve whispers shakily, "It's just... there's that weird vibe you know? Like there's something in there."

"Like what? A ghost girl?" Tony says, "Yeah! That's why were playing hide and seek remember? To get her to come out. And look, Bruce is a special case remember? She wont screw you up that bad alright?"

"No... no it's not her..." Steve frowned, "It's... something else."

"Like?"

"I don't know..."

"That's very informative."

"Shut up!" Steve snapped, standing, "Look, let's just get out of here okay? I think we can hurry and hide in the living room if we're quiet."

"What? No way!" Tony says, hearing footsteps overhead and Loki's small shriek of... is that surprise? Probably surprise, "They're already on the first floor. Let's just wait till they find us."

Steve however, would not be moved on the decision.

"Fine," He said rather angrily, "Have fun hiding by yourself then." And with that he turned and ran upstairs.

"Steve!" Tony hissed quietly, groaning as the door opened and shut with a small click. With a small hmmph! he turned and began exploring the room, trying to find something interesting to entertain himself with till the others came down here for him. The workbench was pretty snazzy, even if it was old and covered in dust. It's large furnace was a bit intimidating, but it was also in need of a major clean so Tony tried to stay away from it; he really did. But then something caught his eye.

A shiny metal something, glinting in the dim light. It was hidden slightly under part of the furnace and caked in years of old grime. Tony had to wrestle with the corner of the furnace for it, but was eventually able to yank it free.

It was a pair of rusty little pieces of metal. Flat, rounded rectangles connected by a long chain necklace. There was indented marks covering it, and as Tony rubbed furiously at the grime they became letters, and then words.

Rogers

Steve, G.

107th Infantry Regiment

Protestant

Tony frowned. Now how was that possible? He'd seen those same tags go back around Steve's neck and he never took them off again. How could they be sitting here covered in enough grime to suggest they'd been here for awhile? The chain was even rusted, ready to break at a moments notice when maybe an hour or two earlier it had been strong in Tony's hands.

Turning to head back upstairs (this was more interesting than any game anyway), Tony's eye again caught something odd. It was in the form of a shadow in the farthest corner of the basement, near the hidden door. It was large, and it was shaped like a full grown man.

Yet Tony was the only living thing in the basement.

And now Tony could feel a rather malignant aura, felt his stomach freeze in fear and foreign thoughts of "Don't let him hurt us!" and "He's coming to get you..." entered his head. The shadow stood there, like an animal waiting to jump it's prey. Tony was afraid to move, it was like his limbs had been filled with lead or his feet had been tied down; he wanted to go upstairs, he wanted to move, but he simply couldn't. The presence had some sort of hold on him and it wasn't letting up anytime soon. Meanwhile voices crept into Tony's ears like bugs, whispering things he didn't want to hear-or was he imagining it? Small voices of children were talking in his head the longer he stared at this odd shadow in the corner, and yet he dare not look away otherwise, he felt, something bad would happen.

"Don't let him hurt us!"

"I don't want to die! Not yet!"

Tony was freezing and the lights flickered.

"I'm not ready yet! We still have to find her!"

"Monster!"

He felt his throat close, unable to swallow or blink he stood there, rigid and afraid.

"I haven't seen my dad yet... I'm not ready."

"He broke my arm! He needs to pay!"

The shadow, as the light flickered, moved. Or at least, Tony was sure it did. Suddenly it wasn't completely wedged into the corner anymore, it was against the wall. Or maybe it'd started to walk further into the room-towards him. It's hands open and arms outstretched...

BAM!

"Hello?"

It wasn't anyone Tony knew calling. It was someone completely out of left field.

But that was alright, as the light from upstairs invaded and whatever horrific trance Tony had slipped into was broken, the shadow disappeared and the lights found they were able to work again. Tony let himself breathe before he answered, he gulped the air greedily and felt dizzy as he did so. His limbs free, he wanted to run and jump around, put them to good use and expend the energy that had been used to keep them coiled so tightly a moment ago.

Heavy footfalls assault the old and rickety basement stairs, a large man wearing a police uniform has just arrived and he's staring at Tony curiously.

"Kid?" He says, frown made of concern, "You okay?"

Tony doesn't realize it, but he's pale and shaking, breathing fast like he's ready to hyperventilate.

It had happened so quickly, no one had been expecting it.

Thor and Loki had chosen to try the kitchen for hiding places, Loki releasing his grip on Thor's hand and slipping into a cupboard much like he did when they played this game at home. Thor hissed a few dissenting words of betrayal, asking how Loki could hide in a place he couldn't fit and receiving a number of giggles in return. But at the sound of footsteps upstairs approaching the stairs Thor turned and flung himself into the dust filled pantry, closing the door with a soft click.

It had all been good fun, nothing seemed wrong; it was all perfect.

Until Loki's eyes adjusted to the light.

Until he noticed the little yellow heels which are broken and covered in filth sitting not to far away from his own feet. They were attached to a pair of tiny legs covered in a ripped and pale yellow skirt. And beyond that, the skirt connected to a blue bodice and puffy princess sleeves. All of which covered a girl with a pale, bruised face covered in scratches and dried blood, curly brown hair matted and a mess.

Loki feels his throat close, yet he desperately wants to scream.

The girl smiles a wide grin, one of her teeth has been knocked out, and she puts a finger to her lips and it's like Loki can't breathe!

"Come find me!" The girl giggles, reaching forward to touch Loki's arm and he hears screaming from somewhere far off as it feels like his arm is dumped in a bucket of ice water.

"Loki!" It's Thor, he's opening the cupboard door and dragging Loki out, dragging him away from that girl. They're sitting in the middle of the kitchen, open and exposed to get caught but neither really care. Loki's clutching Thor's chain mail, soaking his red tunic in tears as he gasps and hiccups and can't seem to get any words out but he so, so wants to tell Thor what happened and he just wants to go home because this isn't fun anymore.

And then the door busted open, three cops walking inside, looking into the kitchen to discover the source of the noises are the very kids they've been scouring the neighborhood for all night. They go unnoticed at first, Thor's to busy trying to get his little brother to calm down, but then the others appear from upstairs and the study. Clint and Natasha look guilty while Bruce glowers at them like he's challenging them.

As they're escorted out the kids notice Thor and Loki in the kitchen, Thor on his knees hugging the crying Loki and Clint and Natasha frown, wondering what could have happened. Outside their parents are waiting for them, Fury scooping his little girl up into his arms and Miss Hill showering her boys in hugs and kisses and "Thank heaven you're alright!" It's only a moment after that they notice the change in Bruce and then Miss Hill is holding him tight, refusing to let go until her baby comes back, because that's what he is. Flaws and moods and all.

Eventually Loki calms to the point where he's no longer choking on his words as he tries to breathe and cry at the same time. Wordlessly, Thor lifts Loki into his arms and carries him outside where their parents are waiting. Frigga's eyes are red and puffy but it's Odin who looses a number of tears at the sight of his boys frightened but alright.

Inside, the officers scour the house for more children, knowing there's at least one they missed.

It's only when one of them enters the basement does he find him, standing rigid and pale staring at the corner of the room like he's seen something horrifying. It only lasts for a few minutes though, because as he's being dragged out his head seems to right itself and he's wrenching his arm free.

"I need to find Steve." He snaps, turning to run upstairs, "Did you get him and Bucky yet? Are they outside?"

"I dunno kid," The officer says, "Why don't you go outside while I look?"

It's not what Tony wants to hear, but a renewed grip on his upper arm tells him he has no choice. He's forced outside, where his parents and Jarvis are standing waiting, looking increasingly worried as everyone's child appears but there's. Until he does, and then Howard Stark's face colors in anger while his mother bursts into tears and Jarvis feels he can breathe again.

It's an hour later when everyone is outside, the cops having just finished searching for these mysterious two boys.

"There's no one else in the house," The officer explains to Tony, "And there's no missing reports of any kids you and your friends are describing."

And that sends Tony for a loop, how is that possible? They were just there! The cops and their parents had been running around this neighborhood all night, surely they would have seen someone?

And that's when Tony looks back at the house and sees Steve wave from the upstairs window before he vanishes in front of Tony's eyes.

October 31st, 1944

It had been a simple game they played-or at least, Bucky played.

He liked to tease people, and often he would tease those he was close to. Steve had grown up with this, had learned early on the teasing was in good fun.

Peggy, however, did not. A few poorly constructed ribs sent her way had the little British transplant girl storming away down the street from her friends in tears. Her yellow Snow White skirts swishing around her feet, she looked every image of a distressed princess as Steve debated staying with Bucky and chasing after the girl he secretly held a crush for.

The whole point of the night was to enjoy it together, as best friends, and yet that wasn't how it was turning out to be. It was turning into a train wreck-a wreck Steve would have to fix since it seemed Bucky refused to acknowledge any wrongdoings in his actions. Groaning, Steve dragged him by the arm after a lengthy argument over whether or not Peggy was just being a baby ("She is not!" Steve had insisted, "You're just mean you Jerk!"), passing by kids dressed as soldiers, Snow White or her seven dwarves, Pinocchio, and there were whole armies of ghosts and goblins and scarecrows.

"I don't see her anywhere." Bucky groaned, looking around as they stopped to rest on a street corner (Steve was coughing again and he'd bent forwards with hands on knees to breathe).

"Maybe she's just down the next street?" Steve proposed.

"She doesn't move as fast as us-especially in those heels!" Bucky argued, looking around, "No, she has to be close by somewhere."

And then Steve looked up in time to see a familiar face pass in front of a window.

"There." He said, throat going dry, he'd heard the stories. Whispered to him at school and retold walking home or on the bus, he listened as terrified children from this neighborhood recounted the legends of the Zola House.

It contained a monster, in the form of a man. Mr. Zola was a cruel person, who enjoyed hurting kids who wandered to close to his doorstep. Most were never seen again and the stories spiraled from there, going as wildly to say he was apart of a smugglers ring to he was just a simple crotchety old man who took pleasure in other people's pain.

And now Peggy was in his house, alone and defenseless.

"Steve! Wait!" Bucky cried but it was to late, Steve was tearing to the door, beating his weak frame against it to try and force it open. He wouldn't leave his friend in there unprotected. It was something he wouldn't wish on anyone-not even his mean scout troupe leader !

"Move it!" He heard Bucky snarl before there was a crash and the front window shattered. Bucky used his candy bag to beat the remaining shards away and then he disappeared through the glass-less window, with Steve close behind.

The house was quiet, a light flickering here and there but no sign of where Peggy went or the whereabouts of Mr. Zola.

"Are you sure you saw her in here?" Bucky hissed, he was already known as a troublemaker around town-but it was all harmless stuff. To get accused of breaking and entering would shatter whatever tentative yet happy relationship he had with the few officers who enjoyed his little jokes.

"I'm positive. She was crying and he had her by the arm!" Steve snapped, running upstairs, "Peggy! Peggy where are you!"

"Steve!" Bucky hissed, "We don't wanna get caught!"

But it was to late. Steve ran headfirst into the short, balding man's gut. He smiled down at the boy with a yellowed toothy grin and faster than his physical form would suggest, snatched the child in a vice grip.

"Let go!" Steve screamed, kicking and punching at the man but it seemed to have little effect. He was being dragged down the stairs, and instead of being thrown out he was being led in the direction of the kitchen.

"Let go!" Steve screamed again and then Bucky was there in a blur of long brown hair and a dirty frying pan he must have fished from the sink.

"Where's Peggy?" Bucky cried, actually causing the man pain as he swung at every angle he could. Zola cried out as the metal pan was brought down on the fingers holding Steve and Steve bit back his own shout, his arm sore where it had been hit. Turning, he joined the fight, giving the back of Zola's knees a hard kick and managing to make him stumble.

"Go find Peggy!" Bucky cried, landing a blow to the man's shoulder

But Steve didn't have time to do anything, because that's when it happened.

The basement door had been wide open.

And Zola managed to shoot out a hand that pushed Bucky though it, down the stairs and into the darkness.

Turning, he reclaimed Steve's arm and was dragging him along after his friend, who lay in a pained heap on the floor, his arm bent at an odd angle. Zola grabbed him by this arm and dragged the two despite their screams for help and of pain further into the basement. One of the walls fell away, revealing a hidden room and in they were tossed like mere garbage.

"Happy Halloween kids." He whispered, closing the hidden door and locking it, plunging the kids into darkness. He would come back for them later in the night. After Steve had cried his eyes out in fear and helplessness, screaming and cursing and wishing there was someone to save them and Peggy. After the blonde little boy dressed as a soldier to be just like his dad had groped his way through the darkness and filth of the room-who knew what was in here!-and found Bucky by accidentally touching his injured arm. After the two had comforted each other and promised one another that somehow they'd be alright, did Zola come for them.

With a rag, and a rope.

Later the old man would use his large furnace just mere feet away from the hidden basement room to destroy the evidence of the boys being here.

He'd neglect to notice however, in his struggle to drag the boys their, how Steve had removed his dog tags to wrap them in his fingers and hold them close. He'd fail to notice the now limp had still had the little chain of metal wrapped around it's pale little fingers, and the dragging done across the floor slowly inched that chain further and further up those fingers. He'd fail to notice the tags fall, landing under the furnace.

He'd also fail to notice the shadows that crossed the room, different from the everyday ordinary ones. These were more mailgnant in nature and not shaped like anything else in the room.

They were shaped like two little boys, one with an injured arm.

And something about them promised retribution.

"Would you hold still?! I can't fix it if you wont let me at least be able to hold it!"

"Oh come on Rocket, he's just excited."

"Excited or not I can't work like this!"

"Just carry it for him then."

"No way-he needs to do it himself."

Peter Quill groaned and rolled his eyes, sometimes Rocket could be so annoying-especially when it came to how he took care of his little brother Groot. He was either horrible or fantastic at it, and today he was having a bit of trouble telling which it was.

Beside him, Gamora sighed and checked her mobile, fingers beginning to fly as she typed out a message to who knew.

Behind him, Drax tossed his football in the air and caught it, following the others as they made their way to Rocket's house.

Tonight was Halloween, and despite being considered way to old by their parents, the five planned to go out trick or treating like they did every year. They'd spent the past week getting the costumes just right, and tonight they were planning to show them off by videotaping and photographing each other running around town and doing whatever they wanted. Because they could, end of story.

Rocket gave his brother's backpack another yank and the stuck zipper finally came free, allowing him to zip the thing closed and giving his brother a playful shove forwards as he grinned. His little brother was still in middle school, and he was the cutest damn thing anyone had ever seen-and he knew it too. But Rocket felt he was tough enough to handle whatever was thrown his and his brother's way, so he just enjoyed the show that was his little brother as he ran forward like an airplane.

"I am Groot!" He announced, the only thing he ever said.

The rest of this little group had finally reached varying grades of high school, with Drax being the oldest and a senior while Rocket was still just a lowly freshman. Peter and Gamora at least had each other in junior year and somehow this just worked for the whole group. They sat together at lunch, flicked and poked one another while passing in the hallways, and sent snap chats and funny pictures to each other while bored in class.

You'd never guess Peter lived on the worst possible side of town by himself in a run down apartment while his adoptive dad ran around with his buddies all night and then crashed at their places. Or that Gamora hated going home where she dealt with a sister who hated her and a recent house guest who treated the two like objects because their dad was away all the time and none of the house staff were gonna stop it.

But maybe you'd be able to guess Rocket and Groot didn't come from a normal childhood, and it would probably be because of the scars along Rockets back and the odd look in Groot's eye as he smiled at you and nodded when you spoke yet didn't absorb a thing you said-or maybe he did. He was good at keeping you second guessing, but no matter what was going on Rocket hovered in the background, ready to jump in and interfere the first sign of things going south for his baby brother.

As the five made their way toward Rocket and Groot's house, they heard a door slam across the street and turned to see an older, well dressed man getting out of his car. He was followed by a pretty red head dressed just as nice as he and carrying a clipboard. They both followed what looked like a lawyer or maybe a security guard right into the Zola house, which was the oddest thing. No one went in there-it was haunted!

It had been a number of years ago, way before any of the group of five had been around (maybe Drax, he'd repeated a few grades so he was older than the rest of them), when the rumors started circulating that there was a couple kids ghost's trapped in that house.

They only appeared on Halloween night, and two of them were really friendly while the third was really shy.

And in the basement, if you went down there alone and stayed to long, there was a fourth ghost. A terrifying shadow that promised to strangle you while you listened to the voices of those dead kids pleading for their lives and muttering things.

Or at least, that's what the stories said. No one dared go in there though, partly because the house had been owned by some guy named Schmidt. And after the first group got caught in there he installed a security system so tight it would take a trained spy to break in.

"Isn't that Tony Stark?" Rocket frowned, watching the man disappear with his group inside the house.

"You mean the Tony Stark?" Peter asked excitedly, "Like, billionaire playboy philanthropist Tony Stark?"

"Yeah."

Peter watched through the windows as best he could, eventually shrugging, "I dunno. Maybe he's buying that house?"

"Why?" Gamora asked, sounding amused.

"Why not?" Drax said.

"Yeah, it's haunted, it's old, it's cool." Peter added.

"It is not haunted." Rocket rolled his eyes, "That's just a silly rumor."

"Oh yeah? Then how come people always see those kids in the windows and stuff when no one can get in?" Peter argued.

Rocket snorted, "Obviously someone can, and it's not a stupid ghost."

"Ghosts, plural Rocket. There's like four." Peter said, knowing it would annoy his friend.

"Whatever, it doesn't matter anyway because it's not true."

"I hope it is." Peter grinned, "It'd be so cool to see and talk to a real ghost!"

"Groot!"

The group turned to look at Groot, who was staring at the window excitedly. He grinned and tugged at Rocket's arm, pointing at the house, "I am Groot!"

"What?" Rocket frowned, searching the house with his eyes, "What are you looking at?"

"I. Am. Groot." Groot said slower, calming for a moment before jumping up and down in excitement again.

"No way..." Peter breathed.

"Well, I guess that settles the argument." Gamora said, grinning despite herself.

"That's... no way... what?" Rocket felt his eyes grow large at the sight.

Standing in the windows were two boys, one with blonde hair who was grinning and waving at them, and another with long dark hair that reached his chin who was glowering at them. Then, as quickly as they appeared, they disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"Guys," Peter grinned, "I feel like our plans are changing for tonight..."

"Agreed." Rocket said, pulling his excited brother close.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what'dya think? I really need to stop killing Steve and making him a ghost. That's two years in a row now...
> 
> Get ready for next year, that's the "Scary" year and as I've already started planning I don't plan to hold back!
> 
> Happy Halloween! \\(0,,0)/
> 
> So here's a last rundown of the costumes of everyone:
> 
> Tony-Batman
> 
> Bruce-Sherlock Holmes
> 
> Clint-Green Arrow
> 
> Natasha-Princess (sorry Natasha)
> 
> Thor-Knight
> 
> Loki-Harry Potter
> 
> Steve and Bucky-Soldiers
> 
> Peggy-Snow White
> 
> Pepper-Catwoman
> 
> Jane-Wonder Woman
> 
> Darcy-Fairy
> 
> Easter Egg: The Guardian's of the Galaxy's costumes:
> 
> Peter Quill-Obi-wan Kenobi
> 
> Drax-WWE champion
> 
> Gamora-Black Widow
> 
> Rocket-Leo Valdez
> 
> Groot-Nico De Angelo

**Author's Note:**

> Truthfully, this chapter is from two years ago. Since I'm moving some of my stories onto this site I decided I'd add these two now and update here and everywhere else on halloween. :)


End file.
